Green Eyed Soldiers
by packman23
Summary: Wandering into the woods is the worst mistake a child can make. Monsters lurk in the darkness. The world is breaking apart for Flippy's family, the war is coming back to haunt him. The war rages on, and if no soldiers are left to fight children will do.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Surprisingly not a Flippy War story. I took a few liberties with OCs and such as well. Anyway, I read one of the stories that focuses on Flippy and Flaky's children and this idea has plagued me ever since. Starts off light, but knowing my writing this is going to get quite a bit darker. Please R&R.**

_Disclaimer: I don't own HTF. Mondo media does._

Chapter one: Father

"All units reporting for duty, sir," The shout rang out through the forest, coming from the commander in the grey suit, behind him roughly a hundred soldiers were drawn up into long parade columns. The commander turned back to the troops and frowned, "Atten-hut." The ranks snapped into place.

Behind the commander a shadow formed, a hand stretched out from the shadow and rested on the man's shoulder. Well, not so much a hand... a metallic claw, that always gave the commander the creeps. He turned, but remembering who was behind him, stopped and snapped to attention.

"Very good commander." The voice was cold and harsh, "We are ready are we not?"

The commander shivered, normally that would have cost him. But of course, his men were even more terrified than he was, they were expendable. He licked his lips and replied.

"Correct sir."

The shadow laughed, "Excellent."

... ...

There is a saying that every child should see their father as a hero. It was the same for Sonia, her father was always helping her. He was a kind man and very understanding. There were times of course when he... He was strange, but he was always kind and funny.

Her father sometimes behaved oddly, he was overprotective when his eyes went green. But that side of him was just as fun, he'd taken her out fishing when she was small. Sure, he'd used high explosives as bait, but it had been enjoyable anyway.

In fact her father was always her hero, no matter how he acted.

It was no coincidence that her favourite story had been for a long time, "Doctor Jekel and Mr Hyde."

... ...

Sonia ran excitedly beside her father. His eyes were green today, so as usual her mother had refused to come out with them. She ran to catch up with her father, who was walking, somewhat stiffly, ahead of her.

"Where are we going?"

He looked down and smiled, his pointed teeth glinting, "I thought we'd go to the park to... _Play _with your friends."

Sonia smiled, for some reason her father always wanted to be around other people when his eyes were green. He'd used one of her friends as a pinata once, still they had recovered.

"That sounds fun," She smiled up at him, wondering what he was really thinking, her father had always been avoided by people, but she couldn't see why... He was a good man after all.

But of course, Sonia was only young, one day she would know, one day she would realise what her father could do...

She barely noticed as she walked into the road, a car screeched its brakes, heading straight for her, going to...

Crash, the bonnet collapsed, the drivers ribs shattered, the entire car caved in on itself and Flippy stepped back. He smiled down at his daughter and lowered his knife, slipping it into his pocket.

"You should be more careful, this town isn't exactly safe."

... ...

At the park Sonia went off to play. Flippy just stood to attention on the edge of the playground. He had things to do...

Flippy closed his eyes and seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, when he opened them the pupils were black and large. He smiled and relaxed against a tree, only for a second though, the voice in his head began to speak.

"_If you don't keep her safe I'll..."_

Flippy sighed, "I always keep her safe..."

"_No you don't. You're just some wimp I..."_

Flippy interrupted his imagination, "Who are you to talk about safe? You took her to the zoo last week and she fell into the lion pit."

The voice laughed, "_I dealt with it though didn't I?"_

Flippy sighed, leaning against the tree he pushed his beret over his eyes, much to his other self's annoyance, and looked over to where Sonia was. She was talking to someone he hadn't seen before, a young squirrel in a long coat and scarf. Flippy frowned for a second, then sighed, he was listening to his other self to much, she'd be fine. He leant back and looked up at the sky, letting his mind wander. He barely even noticed when he fell asleep.

... ...

Across the park Sonia was still chatting to the squirrel. She wasn't quite sure who he was, but she had noticed him standing by a tree and decided to talk to him. It wasn't going well.

"What's your name?" Silence, "I'm Sonia." The squirrel just adjusted his scarf and looked up at the sky, "How old are you?" The squirrel sighed, looking down at Sonia he frowned.

"Why does it matter to you?"

"I just wanted to be friendly." Sonia could feel the squirrels glare on her, she noticed then that his eyes didn't match, one green, the other bright blue, "Why are your eyes like that?"

The squirrel sighed again, turning on his heel he walked away, but not before turning back to look slightly curiously at her father. Why did everyone always do that?

She turned away and looked out across the park, a few of her friends were dotted around here and there. She happily dashed off to join them and quickly forgot all about the small squirrel in the long coat with the miss-matched eyes.

... ...

In Flippy's dreams there had always been a place where the sunlight ended and the nightmare began, where birds could not cross and green grass metamorphosised into war torn mud.

He called it the wall of glass. It separated everything he was, from everything he had been. He could never see beyond it, but he could feel the soldier on the other side. His darker self was here, he could always feel it.

"Good to see you soldier." The voice barked from the other side of the wall.

"Stop calling me that, I'm Flippy." The voice laughed.

"Your a soldier, no running from it. You fought right? I can see it in your eyes and that uniform isn't just for show."

Flippy punched the wall, trying to see the speaker on the other side, "We've been through this a thousand times. I'm not like you."

The one on the other side laughed again, "You are and one day you'll admit it. It's a fact."

Flippy turned away from the wall and tried to walk away, but he always found himself coming back to the wall, it always happened. He sighed and sat down leaning against the wall.

"Let's just talk about something we have in common okay."

The voice on the other side of the wall sighed, "Yeah, shouting at you and insulting your values gets so boring sometimes."

Flippy raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

But before the other side could answer Flippy was snapped from his dreams by Sonia, she smiled up at him. His eyes were normal now, it was time to go home.

He stood and took her hand, walking out of the park.

Both of him cared for their daughter, but he guessed it was only a matter of time before she decided which one she cared for more. It was sad but it was true, both his sides knew it...

And both would do anything to make sure she came down on their side.


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I don't own HTF._

**AN: I hope everyone enjoyed my first chapter. This is the kind of story I've been wanting to write for a while (You'll see what I mean later). Just a warning FlippyxFlaky. Also I've noticed an accidental theme for my OCs names, this is just a coincidence and will change later, I promise.**

Chapter 2: Parents Evening

Flaky stood up smiling as her daughter entered, frowning at her _husband _as he entered. She stepped forwards, staring into his eyes, finally she stood back satisfied.

"H-he's gone isn't he?"

Flippy smiled, lifting his hands in mock surrender, "Don't worry I'm unarmed."

Flaky smiled warmly, it was good to have her family back, not that green eyed psycho, but her actual husband. She stepped back and looked at her daughter, Sonia was young, not quite ten yet, she had her father's fur, her mother's quills and, quite unfortunately, her father's posture. Her husband and daughter both stood like well trained soldiers and, while that was fine for Flippy, it was truly unnerving when Sonia did it. She stepped forwards and bent down to her daughters level.

"I've told you about being careful with him."

Sonia looked confused, "What's wrong with dad?"

Flaky shook her head, "Not your dad, the one with green eyes." She watched Sonia's confused face, "Well, we need to go." She stood up, smiling at Flippy, who adjusted his dog tags and picked up a set of keys.

... ...

The village burned, timbers falling, people screaming. The soldiers moved backwards and forwards among the flames, carrying valuables, weapons and, occasionally, people away from the wreckage and into the forest.

"Well done commander." The voice came from behind the commander and he flinched, "The plan is working, is it not?"

The commander smiled, "Yes sir, everything is according to plan."

The shadow smiled its sharp teeth glinting in the darkness, "Good, I have one question commander. What is that under your coat?"

The commander looked down, to see the money lining his coat, bribe money he had taken rather foolishly. He had promised to protect a certain village, betraying the shadow, he was not surprised therefore to see the flower of red spreading across his chest. His body slumped and the shadow turned to a captain nearby.

"Congratulations commander, it looks like a vacancy opened up in the higher ranks." He turned to watch the fire, "Lets hope you are more trustworthy, no?"

... ...

Flippy sighed, sitting down infront of Lumpy, who was apparently a teacher now. They had been waiting for hours, first while Mime attempted to ask an incredibly complex question to the frankly retarded moose; next while Lumpy attempted to get his head around Cro-Marmot. He frowned, pulling a notepad from his pocket and lent forwards, waiting while Flaky sat down before talking.

"Okay Lumpy, we don't really have time to mess around."

Lumpy smiled, "Of course, so what can you tell me about my kid?"

Flippy groaned, not again, "Lumpy, your not married, you don't have kids. You're the teacher."

Lumpy frowned, "Really, I thought I was a policeman."

Flaky frowned, "Um, Lumpy we're here to talk about Sonia.."

Lumpy smiled widely, "Oh of course, Lucy."

Flaky sighed, Flippy buried his face in his hands, "No Lumpy, not Lucy, Sonia."

Lumpy continued smiling, "Lucy's doing very well."

Half an hour later Lumpy found himself completely dismembered, his head stuck on a pole, Flaky huddled in the corner shaking, silently glad that they hadn't brought Sonia with them. Flippy smiled, turning to her, "Well dear." His voice grated and he smiled, causing her to back further away, "Shall we go?"

... ...

Sonia had been wandering around her house for hours and she was bored, searching through rooms she had seen thousands of times before. It wasn't like the baby sitter was anymore interesting, Cub was six years older than Sonia and, while he was nice when he wanted to be, all he wanted to do right now was sit infront of the TV with a beer and the volume turned up too high. Why was he even allowed to drink, he was only fifteen after all. But last time she'd asked him he'd just turned the volume up and ignored her.

So Sonia had decided to entertain herself, it had been fairly simple to sneak out of the house, and avoid her father's various traps (She didn't want to be stuck in a bear trap for ten hours again). Now she just needed something to do, most of her friends would still be at the parent's evening and she didn't feel like going to the arcade or park at this time of night, she'd probably be killed by some psychopath (again). She just wandered along the road, looking in at windows.

Behind the third door Handy glared at his family, "It's been three hours, if we don't hurry up there won't be a parent's evening left."

Petunia sighed, lifting her son's hard hat and brushing, smoothing, washing, polishing and again washing, his hair. "Everything needs to be neat dear, there Stanley, that's better."

Handy face palmed, before realising that he didn't have any hands and glaring again. Stanley was almost as obsessive as his mother and was the main reason that they were so late. Now his daughter on the other hand... Sander was just like he was and demonstrating it by glaring daggers at her younger brother.

"If you weren't so obsessive, we'd be there by now." She groaned, adjusting her hard hat (Much to Handy's growing annoyance). She crossed the room quickly and grabbed her brother's arm, (ARGGHH) dragging him, much to his mother's annoyance, out of the door. Sander nearly bumped into Sonia on the way out, "What are you doing here?" Her voice was hostile as usual and Sonia backed away slowly.

"Sorry about her," Stanley pulled away from his sister, flinching slightly at the dirt Sonia had accumulated around the town, "She's a bit crazy."

Sander glowered, "Crazy? You're the one who freaks out over..."

"Don't say it!" Handy's voice was sharp and ever-so-slightly crazed (This was taking **SO **long) "We don't need him slowing us down as well." He somehow managed to grip his two children tightly with his arms, barging past Sonia and pulling them towards the school. Petunia on the other hand stopped, helping Sonia up, brushed her down leaving her feeling overly sterile, and hurried away after her husband.

... ...

Sonia wandered further along the road, not really thinking about where she was going. She turned a corner and stopped dead.

Her parents were zigzagging down the road. Her mother looked terrified, her father wore a lopsided smile, his clothes were ripped and bloodstained and he was gripping Flaky's wrist incredibly tightly. Suddenly the porcupine pulled away, trying to run, Flippy just smiled wrenching her off her feet he grabbed her hair with his second hand and began to drag her along the road. "Come on dear," His voice was filled with mock cheerfulness, "We need to get home." He pulled Flaky into his arms and smiled cruelly, "Or would you prefer to go to the hospital?" He ran a knife across Flaky's throat, causing her to scream.

Sonia gasped, pushing herself backwards into an alleyway, that couldn't be her father. That couldn't be, he was kind and... But then why was her mother there? She couldn't let them see her... She backed further into the alley, waiting for her parents to pass, before stepping forwards and...

"Goin' sumwhere beautiful?" The voice came from behind her and a hand tightened around her wrist, "Now, are ya gonna to 'and over ya valuables, or are we gonna have t'do this th' 'ard way?"


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I don't own HTF. I only own a few OCs._

**AN: People have probably realised who the speaker at the end of the last chapter was (It is obvious). Thanks to everyone who's reading. Please R&R.**

Chapter 3: Raccoons

Sonia spun round to see who had spoken. Behind her a tall raccoon in a trench coat leaned against the wall, gripping her arm with one hand. He smiled at her for a second before sighing, "Looks like it's th' 'ard way... We got anotha one Shifty."

From the shadows stepped another raccoon, he was slightly taller and his trench-coat was opened to reveal a scruffy suit, a loose tie and a very, VERY large knife. He smiled widely and pulled the overly-large fedora he wore down over his eyes, "Well, well, well... What's a nice girl like you doing here?" His voice was more intelligent but that knife said otherwise... These guys were dangerous.

"This bear wandered down here a few minutes 'go." The first raccoon answered, obviously the one in the fedora was in charge.

"I didn't ask ya. Besides, she's not a bear, when'd ya see a bear wit' quills?" His voice slipped into the same accent as his brother, clearly annoyed, then he turned back to Sonia, "So darlin' what was that my brother was saying about the hard way?" His accent slipped away, in an flawed attempt to sound posh, "We need money you understand. And it seems to me that people who go prancing around, flaunting their valuables and wandering into dangerous parts... Well, they can well afford to- _pay" _He stressed the word, his smile widening further than Sonia would have thought possible, "For their protection." He raised the knife and smiled, "And you look like you fit my afor-men-t-ioned descrip-cion," Both words were horribly mispronounced, "So, that brings us to..." He raised his knife, pushing past his brother and let his knife rest on Sonia's shoulder, "This."

He raised his fist, striking Sonia in the face, momentarily stunning her. When she came to the raccoon without the hat was holding her wallet, her phone and necklace and every other valuable she had had with her. The one in the fedora smiled raising his hand in a mocking wave, "Thank you kindly miss. I think we have everything we need."

Sonia watched him with a look of hatred on her face, she'd heard that when people were really mad they saw red, but for some reason she didn't... She saw green... A hurricane of green in fact.

... ...

Flippy half-dragged half-carried his wife down the road, laughing cruelly he span round slightly, making yet another mockery of a waltz.

"You know," He droned in his usual savage voice, "I didn't really like you when we first married."

Flaky's look of disgust was almost tangible, she pulled away, "I-I didn't marry you... I married F-Flippy."

The soldier laughed harder, "Same thing moron," He spun her round again, "You marry Flippy, you get me as a consolation prize. But enough about him, after all he's gone half the time... Now as I was saying, I didn't like you but now..." He paused, pushing his face close to Flaky's, "I'm warming up to you."

He moved closer, Flaky could feel his breathe on her face, his hand on her throat, his eyes locked on her and... He spun away, following some instinct the green bear dropped to his haunches, almost throwing himself forwards he sped into the dark alleyways. She considered for a while, before following. Both Flippy's personae seemed to possess amazing abilities to detect when something was wrong and when push came to shove Flippy's dark side only cared about one thing... Survival. It was safest to follow.

... ...

Lifty and Shify stood back admiring the girl's purse, it was amazing that a nine year old girl would just go prancing around with so much money. Shifty smiled even more widely, hitting Lifty in the back of the head as he tried to release the girl.

"Don' be an idiot man. This girl paid fer protection 'n' she's gonna get protected." He gripped Sonia's other arm, lifting her to her feet and resting the knife on her shoulder again, "'N' if she 'as t' pay t' go 'ome again," His _posh _accent was slipping back into his normal voice, "Well, I'm sure she won't mind. Will ya darlin'?"

Sonia took in the large knife on her shoulder, the large knife in Lifty's hand, their obvious size and number advantage, and nodded mutely. Shifty smiled, the two brothers frog marched her to the corner, laughing, then...

"Get away from my daughter!"

Shifty and Lifty whirled round, their eyes simultaneously scanning the alleyway and the bear towering over them.

Lifty was the first to recover- "I told you she was a bear, I..."- he was also the first to die, he stared in disbelief at his ruined shattered ribs, as they punctured his skin and burst his lungs, and at the hand that plunged into his chest and removed his heart.

Shifty lasted slightly longer, releasing Sonia he raised his knife- "Look man, we didn't kno' I mean I...". He never finished, in roughly the amount of time it took a hummingbird to beat its wings the bear had pulled his knife out of Lifty's head and crossed the alley. Five seconds later what had been Shifty was now fifteen different that piles that could someday be reassembled into a green raccoon.

The bear smiled cruelly, bending down he picked up the fedora. He straightened up again and turned to Sonia, smiling widely, "Well Sonia, that was fun wasn't it?" He stepped forwards smiling again, but she backed away, shaking. The bear seemed confused, "What's wrong?"

She backed still further away mumbling incoherently. This couldn't be her father, there had to be some mistake. Her father was kind. He was honest. This bear was...

"Sonia. Sonia, what's wrong?" The bear's green eyes glowed with concern and fear, "Did those raccoons hurt you?"

Sonia mouthed wordlessly and shook her head. The bear reached out imploringly but the girl backed still further, "Y-y-ou, you..." She couldn't manage any more, but both of them knew what came next. The bear lowered his gaze, dropping his knife and bending down to her, she ran from his touch. He mumbled and begged, as if he were the one facing a psychopath. Sonia just backed still further, searching for safety... anything.

Her mother as usual provided that. Flaky entered the alleyway, pushing past the desperate ex-soldier and grabbing her daughter up in her arms. Sonia buried her head in her mother's arms and cried. She had seen death before but never so... horribly. Flaky glared at the green eyed creature infront of her with more distaste and anger than anyone who knew her would have thought possible, she patted the back of her daughter's head and led her by the hand past the green bear and out of the alleyway. For a second Sonia turned back to the soldier, he looked so much like her father, his tattered uniform rested on slumped shoulders and he looked deflated somehow, as if only his skeleton remained to hold him up. His eyes were bright green and empty, he turned back to Sonia, crying now.

"But... I-I thought you knew. Why did you..." His voice trailed away under Flaky's gaze.

"I told you last time. You're not a member of this family." Flaky's voice was definite, but she couldn't hide the fear beneath it. Flippy could kill her for this, or worse...

But the bear seemed not to have noticed, he stared straight ahead, his eyes glazed, before standing, turning away.

"I-I survive, nothing else matters." He turned to Flaky and Sonia, "You hear me you little pukes... I was right, I shouldn't have got so attached to his family." He began to trudge slowly away, "Family's worthless."


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I don't own HTF._

**AN: I know my chapters have been a bit short lately, but I hope everyone's enjoying the story. It sure is fun to write. I wonder if anyone can spot all the jokes in my OCs' names. Thanks to everyone who reviewed so far, this is the point (roughly) I mentioned where this get slightly darker I think, so thanks to everyone so far and enjoy the ride.  
**

Chapter 4: School and Memories

In the weeks after that Sonia didn't see much of her father. He'd be there when his eyes were clear, but when his pupils turned green he would be gone again, not even a veiled glare from his wife was needed any more, one hint of green and he went. Sonia sometimes missed him, but it only took the slightest hint of blood, the sight of the green fedora her father had taken, the colour green (which was unfortunately the colour of her own fur) to remind her of what the man had done. She couldn't trust a man like that, not as far as she could throw them. Still she did miss her father... She'd never felt so conflicted.

Her emotions came to a head one day when she sat in school, next to friend Lucy. Lucy was a strange girl, quiet, thoughtful and constantly wrapped in several warm coats, scarves, hats and mittens; even so there was no one she would chose to confide in more (at least Lucy wouldn't tell anyone). Today they were doing a science class. Well, it was biology but the teacher (Lumpy) had been too near sighted to leave a lesson plan (or even separate the children by age) the result was a rather confused day, a whole lot of people at different ability levels who all wanted to do different things and were all allowed to. Sonia and Lucy had decided therefore to look at a book on something a bit complicated, the human (or more exactly the animal) brain.

Sonia stared at the massive over-complexity of what they had chosen, meaningless squiggles, overlapping diagrams, spidery graphs and very long words ending in -ology covered the pages. About the only thing she could understand in the book were the pictures of brains that covered the twenty or so index pages at the back (and even these were labeled with hopelessly complicated descriptions). She looked in confusion down at two diagrams.

"If a porcupine brain looks like this," She pointed to a red diagram on one of the pages, "And a bear brain looks like this." A green diagram this time, slightly thicker and shorter, "Then what does my brain look like?"

Lucy shrugged, thought for a second, then reached past Sonia, folding both diagrams in half she slotted them together. The result made Sonia laugh, a completely unbalanced looking picture with two different sized cortexes (she thought that was what they were called), half-red and half...

The memories came flooding back, the blood, the knife, that look in her father's eyes. In fact, she knew that look, she'd seen it before; every few days he'd get that look, where his eyes turned green and... She supposed it was hunger... No. It made her head hurt to think about it, she couldn't see into the mind beside those eyes. For years she had known that look, for years she had associated it with safety, fun. But now...

She realised that she had been staring straight ahead for around a minute. Next to her Lucy just smiled, she was used to people acting like that, most people had never seen her father move. She waited until Sonia snapped back to reality then raised her hand to the other girl, raising an eyebrow enquiringly. Sonia just shook her head and stood up, she couldn't talk about it now.

"Sonia, sit down." The voice came from the teacher who had temporarily replaced Lumpy. Giggles was a family friend and being the only person without a job who vaguely resembled the sort of person needed to be a teacher was immediately recruited by the school. She was also fully aware that Sonia was not going to listen to her, so just sighed and turned back to her papers as Sonia left.

... ...

Sonia arrived home before she knew where her legs were carrying her. She needed to think, she needed time to herself, she reached for the door handle. Then she remembered she didn't have a key to get in. She sighed, sitting slowly on the doorstep. Things were moving too quickly for her, she was only a kid. She couldn't be expected to deal with...

Her thoughts broke off, down there, by that tree, what was that? She scurried forwards to the tree and there wrapped in it's roots, as if someone had wound it into the tree, was the thing. She reached forwards and gripped it tightly, for a second it didn't move, held tight by the roots. Then slowly, ever so slowly she felt the thing move, just a slight give in the roots; then slightly more, a small movement. Finally with an almighty effort Sonia ripped the thing free.

She looked down at the thing in her hands, old peeling leather, poorly wrapped in string and parcel paper. Green and battered, rough to the touch. The smell of the thing reminded her of hospitals, something like... like, medicine.

The thing was small, crinkled down the edge... A book, old and warped. Some sort of old log, it opened backwards though.

No wait, she frowned and turned it the other way over, she looked down at the book. The cover was almost worn out, it looked like it had at some time had a crest on it, but now it was unrecognisable. She considered the thing for a second, before opening the book carefully and reading the front page.

She immediately recognised two distinct handwritten columns. One in the spidery, slightly looped handwriting of her father. The other in a more simple, block format, very well ordered and disciplined. She had known for a long time that her father could write with both his right and left hand, but she had never expected the contrast to be so great. It was obviously by her father, that much was apparent from the first of the left hand columns:

_Dear Sonia. I hope you will find this when you are old enough, your mother would hate me for this. But you need to know. If you find this at all surprising then put this book down. One day though you need to know._

And in the other column:

_Dear Sonia. I can't believe he talked me into this, but he thinks you need to think about it. It's quite simple really, this is just a book of our diary entries. It's all pointless of course, but it gives me something to do and you something to read, so... Enjoy._ (The last word was underlined)

Sonia thought about what she had read, it was strange, the two columns said the same thing, but they seemed to be written by completely different people. She considered for a minute following the first advice, putting the book down and backing off. But she couldn't, her mind was still spiraling with questions, her father's book might answer some of them. She turned the page carefully, the next page was covered with messy writing, the two styles crossed over each other, violently trying to make the other unreadable, it was only by concentrating that Sonia could see words at all. She pulled the book onto her knees and read on.

_July 23__rd_

_I'm a father. I can't believe it. I have a daughter, she's beautiful... and her eyes aren't green, she's wonderful. Flaky and I were so happy today, I can't put it into words but..._ (Now the writing changed) _It's disgusting, he's even softer now, we need to survive, family or not. He just doesn't get it. His little girlfriend's no concern of mine, we need to survive... That's it. We can't just sit there. I'll make sure he knows that, that little girl he takes so much pride over. She'll die a thousand times before she's one, I'll make sure of it. Then he'll get it._

Sonia found the next of the looped handwriting: _He won't let me sleep, he keeps talking in my ear, I can't shut him out. He just laughs and tells me what he's going to do. I try to block him out but I can't. He's driving me insane. No he can't, he keeps reminding me, I'm already insane._

Sonia gasped slightly at the thought, she'd always thought her father was clever, that he thought things out. But those eyes, they'd confirmed what it said here. She looked down the page, the looped writing continued to talk about how much he loved Sonia and how much _he _was talking. As for the block writing, it just kept threatening, sometimes with diagrams and pictures in red ink, sometimes just long rows of violent (and quite unpleasant) language. She continued reading for a few pages, smiling slightly at her father's writing about her. Then flinching as she read the second column, how could her father write that about her? It was... But then it changed, a single paragraph, in a more shaky font than the others.

_I got up at midnight and went into his precious daughters room. If he's going to learn about survival he's going to learn the hard way. I went into her room, the little girl's so useless, all she does is gurgle and cry. Babies don't serve any purpose, not here, no one can die so no one new is needed. It's just dumb sentimentality that makes him think so, he's just some moron. I was going to show him, I'd disembowel his precious girl and put her head on a pole, then he'd see... But I couldn't do it. I had a knife and... She just sat there and laughed at me. I can't kill someone like that, for some reason, I want her to survive... and I want her to love me. (_This was followed 10 pages that has either been crossed out, is unreadable or... just seemed pointless).

Sonia looked down at the page for a few minutes, letting what she had just read sink in. She frowned for a second, sure it was nice that both these people wanted to protect her, but... She couldn't get her head round this, both these must have been written by her father but they were so different, this couldn't all be by the same person... But at the same time they had to be, she recognised them both. People she loved, people she had always thought of as the same... This book made it clear that they weren't. It also made it clear that they both loved her.

On the doorstep, at that moment, something Sonia had never known was inside her broke. She didn't feel anything, she didn't react as such. She just leant on her knees, the book clutched tightly to her chest and cried. She felt like she had only just met someone, only to have them taken away.

... ...

At the wall of glass the bombard continued, smashing and swearing came from one side. The other just sat on the ground, his head in his hands.

"You're lucky soldier." The violent side roared, "You've got it all. I have to survive."

The pacifist sat, "You said you just needed to survive. You said you didn't care."

The smashing intensified, it sounded like the world was shaking, "YOU FREAK! I'm gonna rip your heart out and show it to you. I'm gonna knock your brains out. You hear me soldier, you'll be sorry you were ever born."

The pacifist lowered his head again, drawing a hip flask from his belt, "You want to survive? Then give up. I can take care of myself and you can just leave. If you don't want to have a family, if you hate them that much. Then just leave." His voice was infinitely cold and for a second even the insults stopped.

Then they returned and the old soldier slumped forwards. Everyone in this town was cursed.

But none of them were him.

None of them knew what he'd been through.

He was cursed forever and he couldn't escape. Just because of what he'd been through.

The universe is a comedian, people said that sometimes. Well right now the soldier believed that. He knew it...

Because he was part of the joke.

He was the punchline.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Thanks everyone for the review and apologise for not getting to answers sooner (I've actually being writing these chapters in advance. Which unfortunately means that updating speed will slow down).**

**Lucky-Angel135: Thank you. I was originally intending to keep Sonia's species somewhat neutral, but one thing led to another and well she ended up as a porcupine (I assume). Thank you also to Gunslinger-White-Rose, Crazypunkchic208, VioletsAreBlack and Uniquexpersonality for your reviews and unusual nomdeguerres. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Please R&R.**

_Disclaimer: I don't own HTF (Not sure why). Mondo media does (Again not sure why)._

Chapter 5: Run

On returning from work Flaky was surprised to see her daughter crying on the doorstep. She was equally surprised to find the book clutched in Sonia's hands, she tried to take it, but Sonia wouldn't let the log go. Eventually Flaky simply lifted her daughter in her arms and carried her into the house. She laid her daughter on the sofa in the front room and walked into the kitchen.

Flaky had never been brave. Of course, Sonia thought she was, but truthfully... Flaky was afraid of the world; afraid of blood, and mirrors, and death, and chicks (especially chicks). And she was terrified of her husband, not normally of course, normally he was sweet and kind, but when he heard a bang or saw some blood.

That was why Flaky was afraid of loud noises and blood... It all stemmed from her husband. Flaky had come to accept it, she had come to a point where she had lived from one of her husband's _fits _to the next, living in constant fear of his instability and of death. That had all changed when their daughter was born. Flippy, both Flippy's in fact, had loved Sonia, as for Flaky, she had tried, she really had. But all she had was fear, the only thing in her mind was what he had done to her in the past... What their daughter might do in the future. Flaky knew that she loved her family, she knew better than most how much family had to mean... But she was just so scared.

That was why Flay was afraid of her family. That was why she was afraid of herself. Her mind span through her memories over and over, the thoughts spinning in her head. For a moment she forgot Sonia, she forgot the book and just focused on her thoughts.

Then in an instant she remembered where she had seen the book before. She jumped suddenly from her thoughts and hurried into the front room.

To find the door wide open and her daughter gone.

... ...

Sonia had only lay where her mother had placed her for a minute, letting her brain finish soaking up what she had learnt. How could she not have known? Why hadn't her parents ever told her? Her world span for a second, then settled clearer than ever before. Every action, every word, everything her father had ever been, she understood it all now, or so she thought. Yes she saw it all... and she was submerged in a wave of terror. If her father was capable of that, then... But he said he loved you, both halves did... that didn't matter what was important was... But your mother's there... What made her any different, what said... You can't... But...

Her mind swelled with thoughts, some she wanted, others she dearly wished would go, still more that surprised even her. Sonia stood shakily, one thing kept surfacing in her mind. It was stupid, it was possibly the most poorly planned thought Sonia had ever had; but it was simple, and it made sense.

_You can't stay here._ She took an uncertain step towards the door. _Everything that's wrong right now started here. _Another step, away from the sofa and towards the outside world. _I just need some time to think. _With that final thought in mind Sonia's steps quickened, carrying her, before she quite knew it, from her house and out into a world she would never really understand. _You don't need to be alone, you just need to think._

She had never stopped to think that the world might be worse for her than her father. She didn't stop to consider what the world could be. But then again very few people, of any age, ever do.

... ...

The shadows in the forest moved slowly, sometimes they made it seem like time wasn't. Like nothing was really real. This would have scared some people, it would have fascinated others. It would have... But of course the commander had no time for that, fickle little imaginations and beauties had no place in his life. If it was beautiful he could end it, if it was above his comprehension then it wasn't worth his time. He watched his men march slowly past, rank and order, two things he could understand, simple and unchanging. He felt the breath on his back. Fear, there was something he could understand as well, primal and ancient, he had seen it in the faces of so many recruits and civilians and ,had he been able to see himself, he would have seen it in his own eyes as he faced the shadow.

The massive figure towered over him, one glinting eye issuing from a web of darkness, the massive cloaked personification of fear. Something cold and metallic rested on his shoulder and he could almost sense the shadow smiling as it pulled him close, his grey uniform rippling out of place under the grip of what could only be described as a claw.

"So commander, you are enjoying your new power, are you not?" The question was awkward, laced with danger, if only the commander had known the shadow's thoughts.

"Yes..." He stared up at the shadow, "I mean... No." He was becoming painfully aware that one wrongly placed word would cause him to join his predecessor, well predecessors, there had been five different commanders in the last nine months. He felt his legs collapse and sank to his knees as the claw released him, "I mean... I am truly thankful for m-my new power," He winced, "Sir." The afterthought was fortunate, the shadow drew back and laughed.

"Very good commander. It is nice to see that my men have..." He leaned forwards, the next words a heavy, terrifyingly calm, whisper, "A good memory."

The shadow backed into the shadows again (were he poetic the commander probably would have been far more aware of the irony) leaving the commander to stand and regain control of the troops. They had of course seen his fear, but that meant very little. Those who could stand infront of the shadow after training were few. Very few. Of course they all knew who he had faced, the shadow's name was common knowledge. But once again, they had a logical reason for calling him a shade. Ghouls and spectres, most people were terrified of them, not this army, no one in this army would have been scared if the world began to end.

Because even in the apocalypse, anything was better than being on their master's bad side.

They knew his name... He was just safer as the shadow.

... ...

Lucy sat outside her father's house, listening quietly to Sonia as the other girl explained her thoughts. Behind them the huge snow-globe that Lucy apparently lived in (Sonia couldn't recall ever having been inside, her mother said it was dangerous) gleamed in the sunlight, reflected light making it appear like a second sun was rising from the ground. It made Sonia feel sort of peaceful as she continued her train of thought.

"I just feel so scared. I mean, if I can't trust my parents then who can I trust?" Lucy shrugged, standing and following Sonia out into the woods. It was only a short distance and there was really no reason for them to be there, but the forest always made Sonia feel calm; it wasn't anything particular about it, you still died a lot, but she supposed it was just the quiet, the beauty of the forest that made so many Happy Tree Friends see it as a better place to be. Maybe it was the silence in the woods was what made death seem less terrible there. She smiled sitting down on a log and looking out at the world. The windmill of thoughts that had formed in her brain slowed slightly, the wind that powered it dropped and Sonia's smile widened. She looked down at the floor of the forest for a second, following the intricate patterns the bugs made as they rushed about their business. Finally she looked up.

There in front of her was a massive crossbow. She flinched away, covering her head with her arms, defensively. But the weapon drew back, aiming away from her, as the man using it pressed his face forward, regarding the girl with wild, spinning eyes. Sonia flinched still further and the man's lopsided smile widened slightly as he pulled away.

Now he stood back Sonia could see the man clearly. He wobbled on his feet, almost falling every few seconds. His body was covered in flecks of spit and large pieces of candy that matted his fur and drew it down in scruffy tufts infront of his rimmed eyes. The eyes kept on darting, never settling for more than a second and a laugh rose from the man's mouth as if a tornado was wrenching through his lungs. He jittered so rapidly that it took Sonia a few seconds to realise that she was looking at a squirrel. The squirrel in question was never still, his mouth twitched, his arms jerked at his sides and his eyes spun again and again and... his eyes didn't match. However before Sonia could process this the man had lurched forwards again, pushing his face close to hers.

"Got any candy kid?" His voice slid over the syllables, melding them together and regurgitating them as incomprehensible garbage, "Seen any candy kid?" He tilted his head back so far that Sonia thought his neck would snap, ripped a hunk of candies from somewhere and poured them down his throat. Snapping forwards again his eyes whirled and he let out a long, ecstatic gasp, "There good... Really good. Want some kid?"

His hand shot forwards and before Sonia could react, thrust a load of colourful candies up to her face. She flinched and pulled away to where Lucy sat. Sometimes her friend could be like that, when surprises came round the corner she just didn't act, she thought. Sonia gripped her friend's shoulder and began to pull her away, she had lived in the town long enough to know that a maniac with a crossbow was a sign to leave.

The man leveled the crossbow, his eyes finally focusing, although quite what he was seeing Sonia wasn't sure, he seemed to be staring passed her, mumbling something about candy as he clicked off the safety. The squirrel took a step forwards, ruffling his sugar drenched fur and stifling a manic laugh, he aimed carefully and-

"Stop!" The man flinched and turned slowly, wincing under the gaze of the person behind him. Sonia recognised the young squirrel in the coat she had seen earlier, there besides the scruffy man Sonia could see how similar they looked, both squirrels, both green, both with mismatched eyes. The boy stepped towards the man with the crossbow, "Dad, put that down. They don't have anything you want." The boy drew a piece of candy from his pocket, flinching slightly as he touched it, and threw it to the tall man, "There. Now are you happy?"

The adult squirrel gasped like a child, gripping the candy and flipping it deftly into his mouth. The squirrels smile widened and he rushed away into the trees with a euphoric smile. The younger squirrel now turned to Sonia and Lucy, "And what are you doing here?" There was an air of annoyance in his voice, "He's crazy at the best of times and right now," His voice pitch rose slightly, "He's hunting CANDY SHARKS!"

The squirrel turned to follow his father but before he could, Sonia had reached forwards and gripped his arm, "What do you mean?" The boy didn't respond, "Why are you here?"

The boy frowned, "I just asked you that?" He rounded on her, his mismatched eyes ringed with anger, "This place isn't safe, you should just get out of here or you'll die." His voice rose higher again.

Sonia watched as the boy pulled away, he stormed across the leaf litter and savagely kicked a pile of rotting plants from the ground. Sonia started to follow him, she had always had a desire to help people, she realised that somewhere in her mind, to make them safe. That was one of the things she shared with her mother.

She only realised Lucy was still following her after a minute, the two girls scurried and ducked under branches and over tangling brambles. Ahead of them the squirrel in the long coat stepped forwards ahead of them, moving with well practiced speed and fluidity. He had obviously come this way thousands of times, looking angrily over his shoulder he sped up, running now, leaping over brambles and almost swinging from branches. Sonia and Lucy fell further and further behind him. The girls almost fell, stumbling forwards, trying to match his speed. This wasn't about helping now, this wasn't about anything, it was just a cat and mouse game through some sick wonderland that the squirrel dragged them into. Left, right, left, left, right, backwards, up, down, round, left... The directions whipped round each other, tying themselves in knots and falling over each other as they too struggled to match the green squirrels pace.

The boy's coat flew out behind him like billowing wings, his scarf whipped in the dark forest infront of them, the trees pulled in, surrounding the chase, tightening their branches around the three children's feet. The roots reached out to trip them, but the squirrel leapt past every one. Sonia and Lucy were not so lucky, tripping and falling they could only watch as the squirrel became little more than a flash of colour in the dark trees. Sonia tried to follow, but the stitch in her side pulled her down to the floor, that kid's energy had been massive. She staggered to her feet and, casting her eyes around, realised she was totally lost. Ahead of her the trees seemed darker and more depressing than ever. The trees behind her stretched into the sky, blocking out all light.

It suddenly struck her how stupid she had been, running after a person she didn't even know the name of, sure it didn't matter if she died, but she realised that it wasn't that simple. If she died she might... She'd never been this far from Happy Tree Town.

As for Lucy, the marmot stood and formed her own opinions of their situation, then buried her face in her hands, obviously she had come to the same conclusion as Sonia, this didn't look good. Happy Tree Town was bad enough, but something about this place was even worse than...

Her mind turned the ideas over for a second, the terror shook her frame. Her father had always protected her. Back before she'd realised what his protection had meant. She felt tears begin to well up in her eyes, blinking them away she set out in the direction the squirrel had headed. He'd been going somewhere, she was sure of it, she just had to find him. Then at least they'd be safe.

... ...

At about this time Pop arrived home, he sighed contentedly, momentarily forgetting where he was. Then it came flooding back as the young man next to him butted in, "So, what is our job again?"

Pop groaned and turned to the yellow bunny, he tried to remember why he had volunteered to carpool with a person who could drive anyway and even without a car could have walked from one side of the town to the other in less than half an hour. He contemplated the stupid question for a second, what was their job indeed. They both worked in management for god's sake (goodness knows why) how on Earth was he expected to know? He turned to Cuddles, "Some rubbish or something. We boss people around, they do the paper work so why should I care."

Cuddles thought for a second, then his usual optimistic smile spread across his young face. Pop frowned at the man for second, before turning away and climbing out of the car. Mondays weren't good for him, he hated Mondays. As if agreeing with him a knife whirled through the air and lodged itself in his skull, the man fell to the ground barely a second after. Cuddles got out of the car and stared down at the corpse, vaguely registering that what should have been a horrific scream was only a look of mild annoyance. Pop didn't really care, these things happened all the time. Cuddles was even less surprised at the culprit. Flippy dropped down from the top of the car and growled, raising his knife and striking it into Cuddles eye with spectacular force, collapsing the front of his head with the knife's handle and smashing his fist into the ruin of a skull he had left. He watched, with what was normally a grim satisfaction, but was now simply emptiness, as the wrecked body of Cuddles fell to the ground, his only remaining eye staring up from a shattered pool of blood and bone. Flippy brought his foot down on the face, listening to the squelch with a look of massive rage spread across his face. He looked down at Cuddles'- now headless- body and swore, this was meant to make him feel happy, before Sonia had come along killing had been something he had understood, something that made him feel complete. He was a soldier, it was in his genes after all. But that was before his daughter had been born. Before he had realised that something wasn't covered by being a soldier. He turned away from the carnage, smashing his fist through Pop's car's bonnet and tearing a handful of metal out of the engine and ripped it apart. He fell to his knees and smashed the car with his fist. He swore.

"Who needs a family? I don't need anyone. I'm a soldier damn it!" He clawed at the metal, the feeling of it reminding him of the armoured cars he had hid behind. He was alone, but he had learnt one thing from the war. His happiness didn't matter as long as... his cause. As long as his cause benefited his life didn't matter.

At least Sonia was safe

... ...

Safe was not how Flippy's daughter felt at that moment. She tore through the trees, trying to follow the erratic course she was sure the squirrel had taken. It was invisible, she couldn't tell where he'd been, she only knew the general direction. Almost inaudibly she heard rustling ahead, the squirrel was close. This madman's paradise was just growing bigger, taking her further and further away from her comfortable home. If she had had time to sit down she would have noticed the poetic value of the surroundings and situation, but this was hardly the time or the place. The world was slipping away second by second, panic was rising in her throat. Her only thought was to get closer to the rustling, rustling meant people, people were safety. Safety in numbers.

Her mind kept whirring, sometimes spilling up pearls of wisdom beyond her own conscious comprehension, but right now she didn't even stop to work out what such a complex jumble even meant. Her mind was spinning with the pointless garbage of terror. Her feet couldn't move fast enough. She had gripped Lucy's mittened hands and dragged the other girl with her, she just had to get to the people.

The rustling was getting closer, closer. Trees flashed past as a blur of green, roots reached out but she leapt over them, scrambling forwards in a panic. Exhaustion rose in her body, but she pushed it down. Panic like never before surged through her, overriding her tiredness. She had to keep going.

The rustling ahead grew louder, if Sonia had listened she would have heard the boots tramping across the ground, she would have heard the rhythmic swish of a thousand arms swinging in time. But of course her attention was rooted entirely on running, leaping over roots, ducking under branches, breaking into the light.

She tripped as she ran, falling and felt a hand grab her wrist, a cold metallic claw.

"Well, well, well. Looks like I have some new recruits, do I not?"


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: I hope no one minds but my computer can't do accents so (for those who speak French- a subject I'm not at all good at) I apologise for the spelling and grammatical mistakes. Thanks to Boulder the Dragon, it's good to know that someone that experienced likes my story, it's a bit worrying though (how do I keep going like this, eep) I hadn't even thought about pace. Still I hope everyone likes this chapter. Please R&R.**

_AN: Once again I do not own HTF (I would have but I lost a bet). I also want to thank Flipped-out Soldier, reading their fics is what fueled these ideas and the commanders are somewhat based on his general and other soldier characters._

Chapter 6: New Recruits

Sonia lay on her stomach clutching the old book tightly to her chest. Her eyes were screwed up and she could hear sobs from the other children that nearly matched her own. Lying here, cold, wet and afraid, she could barely imagine the things she had left behind were real. Despair, terror and loneliness, they had all been so strange at the beginning, now they were a staple of life. Not that she was really alone.

The voice in her head had made that much clear.

... ...

Sonia could remember being caught in the forest, she could almost see Lucy struggling infront of her. She could remember every movement as she had fought to be free, the brief glimpse of the squirrel in the long coat trying to bite his captors. She could see the brief second when she had felt the arms slip from her wrist, had made the bolt for freedom, and felt her spirit fall as the hand replaced with ropes. She remembered the hatred that had surged through her as she looked up at her captor. The man she had now learnt to refer to as The Shadow, General or Sir. She had shivered at the first sight of him. Tall (the man was six foot if he were an inch), blue fur dotting the scarred hide that was not covered in the torn, black army uniform. Most of all she could picture the smile, that smile, that split its way across a face that had seen more battles than most people had seen flies; beneath a dark, swimming blue eye that could have been handsome had it not been so merciless. When she looked into that eye she couldn't help remembering a nightmare from when she was younger...

That paled in comparison to this.

Snapping back to reality Sonia curled herself tighter into a ball and forced her eyes open, casting them around the complete darkness. This couldn't be real... This was a nightmare... Yes, that was it, this was all a nightmare... The most realistic, terrifying nightmare she'd ever had... and she couldn't wake up.

Yes this couldn't be real... It just couldn't be... But it could still hurt her.

It didn't matter if it was real or not. She shut her eyes again... It would go away, it had to.

... ...

Flippy too was having a bad night. He had let the soldier in his head take control and he had woken up in an abandoned house. There were a lot of abandoned houses in Happy Tree Town, it came with the territory and if they weren't when Flippy arrived, then they were soon after. This was a place Flippy recognised however, Flaky's old home, before she moved in with him, and for some reason whenever he flipped he always found himself back here. He stared desolately at broken windows and the fading walls. He could still see the plastic and bubble wrap that Flaky had wrapped around the downstairs, but up here...

Flippy could see why his wife had been scared of this place, dark walls and looming shadows, broken glass littered the floor. He knocked the hanging bulb lazily with his hand and grimaced, this place was a death trap. Dimly lit, stained with damp, creaking and falling apart, cracks from floor to ceiling. Flippy stepped carefully over a rafter, creaky board and a precarious hole in the floor. Like he said, it was always here, and he was here often enough, he knew the room like the back of his hand. He passed a row of windows to the left, casting long black shadows across the floor onto dull red walls.

For a second blood flowed down the pale white walls, he flinched pulling his head away from the sight, towards the black mud of the floor, trees raised up on either side. He tried to shake the visions away, "Look I just came to talk." He yelled out into his imaginary jungle.

"Then by all means talk." The lilting foreign accent came from behind Flippy. He whirled on round to face the figure. "It has been trop longtemps mon frere, loin trop longtemps." The voice continued, obviously oblivious to Flippy's terror.

The green bear had fallen back, crawling back to the wall and scrabbling as if he could somehow claw through it. He twisted round, pulling his revolver from his hip and pointing it shakily at the figure, his mouth moved but only a strangled squeal came out. He fired, his shot smashing through the figures shoulder, but they stood there as if nothing was happening and now Flippy's gun was twisting, wrenching itself out of his hand. It floated for a second before slowly bending and snapping.

Slowly, impossibly a figure was forming infront of him, tall, thin and hunched. The man leaned against a tree, leaving behind a deep red stain. Finally Flippy saw the figure, a long tongue flicking out between two bulging eyes- settled firmly on Flippy-, to lick up... a trail of blood, from a wound that split his head in half, exposing grey, almost melting, brains and thousands of skull fragments. A charred army uniform graced his back, ripped open at the back where, against all belief, his spine showed wrenched, twisted, coming out of his back and depositing blood slowly onto the leaf litter below. The figure dragged his feet, leaning his weight onto a sniper rifle on front of him. He gasped for each breath, his left hand lung clearly hanging out of his back along with his spine. He smiled down at the green bear and Flippy found himself dearly wishing that he could fall back into his mind and let the soldier inside take over, but even his dark side seemed afraid of what was infront of him.

But it wasn't the tall figure that scared him, the first one. A small mouse with bandaged ears. Charred fur, charred flesh, charred bone. Arms ended at the wrists, the hands long since charred away... And the blood. The blood flowed from everywhere, soaking the ground around him a deep red. Organs pulsed slowly, visible now the skin was gone; a tattered beret rested on his head, and his left eye gazed out- forwards, slightly to the left- apparently unable to move. The two figures wobbled on their feet, two gruesome puppets held in place by the mind of a madman. Flippy groaned as he realised.

"I'm losing my mind aren't I?"

The mouse laughed, "You tell us mon frere. This is your delusion you know."

The taller of the two, a green chameleon dropped slowly into a kneeling position, his bulbous head bobbing merely an inch from Flippy's face, his tongue flicked up once again, licking another trickle of blood that had pooled in his left eye. He frowned for a second then, both his wandering eyes settling once again on Flippy. He opened his mouth to speak, but instead a wretched gurgle came out and he fell backwards, moaning, as blood and vomit exploded from his mouth. Flippy felt sick to his stomach watching the two, he turned and ran as fast as his leg would carry him, tears streaming down his face. He couldn't handle this... Not now, not ever. But definitely not now. He sped on through his nightmare, faster, faster, he staggered, he slipped, many times he fell. And the two creatures, the two memories moved forwards, more quickly than Flippy would have believed, never missing a step, never tripping, never slowing or tiring. Getting closer and closer each second. Flippy just ran harder, ignoring the ache in his side.

He couldn't look back. He didn't want to remember.

... ...

"Okay you little brats." The voice rang out across ragtag lines of children, "I don't expect you to know the rules yet..." The speaker paused for a second, smiling for a second, "But if you don't learn quickly, you'll all be dead." His smile stretched to an insane wolfish grin- appropriate considering the commander was a large grey wolf. He stared across the children again, ranging from little kids to teenagers that were taller than the commander, if they had wanted to they could have easily escaped. Of course that would be if they were trained- his smile stretched again- right now they seemed barely alive, standing in a shocked silence in various old, torn army uniforms he had been able to find. He hadn't bothered to learn their names, at this rate they'd be dead within a week anyway, and besides, if he knew who they were, if it had sunk in just what he was doing. Well the commander probably would have shot himself right then and there.

... ...

Sonia was in the second row from the back, thanking whatever had helped her avoid front and centre, she could barely see over the heads of the children infront of her, but judging from the commander's speech that was probably a good thing; at least if she couldn't see him then, maybe, just maybe, he couldn't see her. She scratched at her sleeve, she had been given a loose fitting army jacket with sleeves that fell over her hands, a collar that strangled her when ever she tried to do it up; more dark green plastic patches than actual material and strange stains that were probably blood- or worse. Above that she had managed to find a a dark blue overcoat- once again massively repaired and incredibly poorly fitting- and a dark green beret with shattered red goggles attached that seemed to have been caught in an explosion. She scratched her cuff again, looking up and around at the crowd.

The squirrel in the scarf was to the left of Sonia had found a battered hard hat and been allowed to keep his long coat. Beyond him, nearer the front, Lucy stood, a thick army coat wrapped round her soldiers (It struck Sonia how lucky they'd been that all the clothing filled their own personal needs). Infront of her, Sander fidgeted nervously, trying to wrap a hand round her brother, who seemed to be completely mad with panic. Stanley was flinching at every little piece of dust, every stain, every tear, Sonia felt his fear just by looking at him. The disgust and terror radiated off him in waves. Sonia turned her head away and focused again on her cuff, looking around for people she knew would only make her feel worse.

Infront of them the commander was continuing his speech, informing them of the basic detail of what he called _military service _(he sniggered when he said that), "For those of you familiar with this area, I gotta tell you kids, we passed Happy Trash Town a mile back. If you die now... you die now, no replays, got that?"

From the front row a small rabbit began to cry, tears streaming in torrents down his face as the gravity of the situation caught up with him, hearing him several of the others began to wail. But their sobs died on their tongues, the commander moved with incredible speed, ripping the boy from his feet and pulling him high into the air.

"Stop sniveling!" He roared, his voice echoing off the sky, "You're in the army now!" His rage came off him in waves that smothered everything around him, his hand tightening around the little rabbit's neck, "I don't wanna hear a peep out of you unless I ask for it. Not now, not ever. In less I tell you, you will burn and die, in total silence!" He dropped the boy heavily on the ground, causing an audible smashing noise, "Is that understood?" The boy remained silent, tears streaming down his face, "I said... IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?"

The boy continued to stifle his sobs and Sonia could see that it was all he could to quietly answer "Yes."

The wolf turned back on him, his eyes filled with fire. The knife appeared in his hand almost instantly and he bellowed again, "That's yes SIR!" He brought the knife flashing down, clearly aiming to kill the small boy. Something moved into him a second before and Sonia saw a person she had not recognised before, dressed in mismatched army clothing that strangely seemed cleaner than any of the other children's. Cub stood tall, braver than any of the others dared to be, he gripped the commander's knife as firmly as he could against such a strong man, forcing it down, the commander could clearly have pushed the bear aside easily, but he seemed to regain his senses, spitting at the teen and turning quickly away to resume his speech; leaving Cub panting for breath, and the small rabbit wailing as quietly as he could, blood pouring down the right hand side of his face, from the space that- until a few seconds ago- had contained his right ear.

That had been when Sonia had heard it for the first time, a voice in the back of her head, not loud, but commanding and insistent, "You're not going to live through this are you, pathetic. You're not going to survive..." A pause, she could almost picture the speaker smiling, a smile very similar to the one that, subconsciously, her own face had formed into. She never realised that she spoke the next words aloud, "Well, not without me at any rate."


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: This story is going faster than I thought it would. Thanks to everyone who's been reading I hope you're still enjoying this fic.**

_AN: I don't own HTF, but I'm getting more evil and therefore closer._

Chapter 7: Flippy's Nightmare

Flaky stepped over the overgrown vines, her mind vaguely registering how dangerous those could be. Everything here seemed so familiar, she was vaguely aware of how many times the door frame could kill her if it were to fall. She couldn't help casting her eyes over the room as she stepped inside, plastic wrapped table, no chairs (they could fall over), no sharp edges or steps anywhere. She could remember the hours she had spent keeping this room safe, safe and clean; back when she had calculated every risk, taken every precaution to make her world inhabitable... And it still hadn't worked.

Flaky stopped, her head spinning, she had died again and again, she had married an unstable maniac and now... Now her daughter was missing and... She blinked, if she had felt tough at that moment she probably would have put on a determined expression. Unfortunately she didn't real feel up to that at this point, it was the most she could do to swallow nervously and take another shaky step forwards. She needed to do this, if she could have thought of another way... But she couldn't. Flaky swallowed again and began to walk quickly, if she stopped to think she would never be able to do this. But once again she had to...

She had to talk to her husband.

... ...

Flippy crawled back into the corner, he had come as far as he could through his imaginary forest but the two figures were still there. The taller leaned heavily on another tree, Sneaky had always... No not a name, he couldn't remember that name. He had though, and now he could see it all again, spread out before him like the first time it had happened. He could see the tiger general, the pizza, the knife and all the blood. He turned away mumbling. Then he heard the shout.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" It took a moment for him to realise that he had said it himself. But the mouse didn't react, he just smiled widely.

"I can't hear you mon frère," The mouse used the stump of his wrist to gesture to his bandaged ears, "And if you don't look at me I can't read your lips." He watched Flippy for a second, before turning to the chameleon, who slumped forwards, gurgled, raised his hands and performed some complicated hand movements (Flippy had never learnt sign language), before stumbling forwards and falling to rest heavily onto his rifle. His tongue flickered out again, lapping at the blood that poured from his wound.

The mouse frowned, "We can't leave mon frère, you still have to do something."

Flippy turned on him, "I told you I'm sorry! I couldn't be any more sorry!" The mouse stayed silent, closing his eyes and sighing "What more do want me to do! ANSWER ME DAMN IT!"

The mouse opened his eyes and stared through the dream forest, it was fading slightly, falling back into the bears head and beyond it someone was calling Flippy's name. The mouse smiled. "Your- how you say- petite amie mon frère?" He smiled, looking at Flippy's confused face, "Obviously I am the most sane person here at the moment, which is ironic, is it not?" He stepped back leaning against a tree, still as a statue and slowly- so slowly that Flippy did not even see a change- they faded... or maybe Flippy just stopped concentrating on them, one way or another by the time Flaky caught sight of Flippy the two zombified soldiers were gone.

... ...

Flaky was shocked to by her husband's state. He lay huddled in the corner, opposite a full length mirror, his gun held in shaking hands. When Flaky tried to touch him he pulled away raising the weapon and pulling the trigger; only to realise the end of the gun had been twisted out of shape, he swore, before falling forwards, tears streaming down his face.

Flaky wrapped her arms round him, she had been expecting... well _him... _But this was almost a thousand times worse. Flippy looked terrible, fur matted with blood, his army shirt more like rags than actual clothing. Flippy buried his head in his wife's shoulder and cried. Flaky was shocked, he couldn't have heard about Sonia yet could he?

... ...

Beside the wall in Flippy's head, Flippy's more humane side had broken down, he tried to force the memory back, tried to regain control, he used all his force... But the voice from behind the wall of glass got louder.

"You let them die, you moron. Worse you killed them... YOU'RE PATHETIC!"

Pathetic and tired, he closed his eyes and let his tears slowly end, and when he opened them, they were staring straight at his wife... And they were green.

... ...

Sonia pulled herself out of her memories curled herself tighter still into her sheets, her knuckles turning white against the book. Somewhere in the darkness she could hear muffled crying from the rabbit who had spoken in the commanders speech, and hadn't spoken since. Cub had also been put in the same barrack and from the sound of it was trying to comfort the kid. She sighed, it wasn't worth it, all that mattered in the world was surviving, that's what her father had said. She gritted her teeth... NO she couldn't think like that. This wasn't like home, sure she had seen stuff like that before. Much worse in fact, but there was a chance the commander hadn't been lying, as crazy as it sounded, death might really, really, be final out here. She turned over again and wished she could disappear. The commander had told them that tomorrow would be Assignment.

"_But make no mistake you worms, you've only got three real options." _She could still hear his voice echoing around her head, _"Infantry, that's a suicide mission a day. Medical, and they aren't hiring much. Or..." _A pause and a smile that could have scared Sonia's nightmares (Which at the moment were comprised of the commander) _"Bodyguard, to me, and I warn you... I'm considered violent and cruel," _a glance at Cub, "_Even for this army. So in short you kids had better get real strong real fast or... get real dead, real fast."_

"Better get real strong." The voice in the back of her head laughed, "You can't do that, worthless scum." A flash of green, "But I can help you."

A voice from the darkness snapped her out of it, "Did you say something kid?" She blanked for a second before realising that Cub had spoken.

"No, I didn't." That's what she meant to say, but she couldn't. Something stopped her, her body just flipped itself over to face the wall again, silent, unmoving and quietly fell asleep. But she tried to speak, she really did, she just couldn't. So she just tried to shrug it off. Maybe she hadn't meant to say something, maybe she had just been dreaming.

But maybe wasn't good enough.

... ...

He leaned back and opened his eyes, lying against a stump in a pristine clearing. It was funny how the sky glittered like that, he laughed; reaching his hand out and watching it, twisting it slowly as if it were the most entertaining thing in the world. He giggled breathlessly and pulled a piece of candy off his fur, flicking it into his mouth. He rolled the ball of sugar on his tongue, letting the flavour explode in his mouth. He closed his eyes again, rolling the sugar ball around on his tongue. Blue, pink, red, orange, the colours exploded back into his brain, for a second his world was one of light and sugar. He gave a sigh, opening his eyes yet again. He glanced at the thing infront of him for a second, watching it move backwards and forwards... before realising it was his hand and lowering it to the ground. He giggled again and ripped yet another piece of candy out of his fur, swallowing the first and gnawing at the end of one of his many candy canes.

What had he been doing? Ah yes, he had been running. He laughed loudly, clutching his sides as he relived the joy of leaping over the roots and through the trees. He flipped his head back, laughing still and flicked the candy into his mouth, clamping his teeth down on it.

Wait a second. He spat the _candy _into his hand. Hard, metal, cylindrical... he screwed his face up to remember where that had come from...

Of course the... the... Oh, what were those things that, erm, matched... no, no... marched... He searched his candy-addled brain for a second, then... He flopped forward laughing, yes, yes that was it... For a second he basked in the pure euphoria of remembering the word. Forgetting why he even wanted the word "army". Finally his laughter ended, petering out into gasps and whoops. He rubbed his eye with his arm, only now noticing the blood that flowed from his numbed veins, where had he got that? He burst out laughing again... of course that army the one that had come through the forest, ha, they thought they could stop him with bullets.

More laughter shook his frame, his manic laugh shook off the trees, echoed by the forest's creatures startled calls as they flew from him. The squirrel's shattered mind regurgitated more and more information, they'd marched in- hahahaha- they'd shot at him- hahahahahahaha.

And... suddenly Nutty's face could have been carved from stone, he leapt to his feet and staggered, forcing his legs to move with incredible (if somewhat uncontrolled) speed. And they'd taken his son. Someone was going to pay for that. Nutty's sugar rush sent him forward, spinning and staggering... They had taken his son.

... ...

Flippy's eyes flickered open and he gasped for air. The pain that normally accompanied regeneration smashing through his frame with a metaphorical sledge-hammer. His head span, looking around the hospital room he had never had a reason to become accustomed to. White washed walls and a sterile smell. He rolled over, to see Flaky staring at him, she smiled on seeing that his pupils were their normal (well less dangerous) pac-man shape.

"Um..." Flaky bit her lip, "Welcome back dear. Look, I'm really sorry about that," She gestured to the handgun in her hand (why would she need that?), "I was kind of expecting... well..."

Flippy wasn't listening any more, looking over Flaky's shoulder he could see something in the chair behind her. Curled up in the padded hospital chair, fidgeting restlessly, lay the mouse who Flippy had tried desperately to forget. He raised one of his mangled wrists, then pulled himself out of the chair and smiled at Flippy, leaving a slick of blood on the chair. Flippy stiffened in shock.

"No! You can't be here! Stop following me."

Flaky backed away, shocked, truth be told she had seen Flippy act a lot more strangely than this but it was still terrifying. She fell back into the chair behind her and Flippy screamed. She was sitting in... Couldn't she see the blood. He crawled backwards, trying to get as far away from his delusions as he could without falling out of the bed. Flaky, seeing his response, got to her feet and crossed the room, laying her hand on her panicking husband.

"I-It's okay Flippy," She couldn't disguise her stutter, "N-no one's b-b-blaming you." She seemed to have difficulty getting her words out and now sobs were wracking her frame, "Th... This is my fault... all my- f-fault." Her tears flowed unrestrained, her sobs growing louder and louder.

Flippy gave her a confused look, forgetting his imaginary ghouls for a second, he raised himself onto his elbows for a second, wrapping his arms around the woman who, until a second ago, had been comforting him. He drew himself as close to her as he could (his body not yet being fully functional), "What's wrong? Flaky," He turned her face towards him, "Honey, what's wrong?"

Flaky turned away from him, her sobs growing less and less under control, "It's- it's Sonia. She's... well I- I left for a few minutes and... I know I shouldn't have- I just." Flippy began to dread how her sentence would end, he found himself wishing that his wife's fear would keep them here forever, her endless stuttering preventing from hearing a truth he neither wanted nor needed, but finally Flaky managed to finish her sentence blurting out in a mass of words and tears, "Sonia's gone."

The words reached Flippy's ears, but his mind didn't process them, he could hear the blood pumping in his ears, he could see the world swimming infront of him. Somewhere in his mind he could feel his other self's rage. This couldn't be real, this couldn't be real, this... He caught sight of the mouse in the corner, leaning heavily on the wall, blood trickling to the floor. His mind was sent reeling. He pushed himself up to kneeling, pushing his wife away with far more force than needed.

"Get away from me! You're no more real than he is." Flippy jabbed his finger at the ghoulish mouse.

Flaky just stared up at him, tears coursing rapidly down her cheeks, she sobbed and gagged trying to get her words out, staring up with pure unadulterated terror in her eyes. "I d-don't blame you Flippy. But-"

Flippy's palm smashed into the side of her face, she fell on her side, her sobs slowly quietening as she lapsed into unconsciousness.

Flippy turned and ran, he had to get out of this dream, he had to escape, "This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real." The terrifying thing wasn't what he had just done... It was that he truly believed what he was saying.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: I'm starting to feel evil just writing this fic. Sure is fun though. Also Happy New Year to all. Please R&R**

_Disclaimer: I still don't own HTF. I won't own HTF ever (damn lawyers)._

Chapter 8: Assignments

Sonia stood in the front rank third from the right watching the huge figure make his way along the line.

"No, no, is this the best you have to offer Commander Lupus?"

The wolf growled and flashed his best I-really-really-really-want-to-kill-you smile at the man who stood before him, "Move along Gregor, it's not like you need anymore of your useless play medics."

'Gregor' smiled easily, "I'll remember that the next time you're on my operating table _commander_."

Gregor as far as Sonia could tell was the medical commander and her best hope of escape from certain death. The others may not have woken up to what was going on just yet, but something had pulled Sonia out of that, now the shock had passed the only thing that mattered was survival, that's what her father had said and right now it he seemed more smart than all the philosophers and thinkers in history. She moved her head as slightly as she possibly could to get a better look at the medical commander.

Gregor was a dark brown- almost black- beaver with a stained lab coat and a worn-out army coat draped over it. He would have probably been even taller than the wolf if not for a heavy stoop in his posture, that twisted his back and limbs out of shape and caused his head to tilt strongly to one side. This gave him a very awkward stride, his width (which due to his stoop almost matched his height), causing him to sway dangerously when he walked; his huge flat tail smashing into the ground every time he lowered his right foot, giving one of his footsteps a hugely amplified sound. In fact everything about him seemed heavy and everyone of his movements seemed to be somewhat lurching, but at the same time- to Sonia's surprise- careful and planned; as if he knew just what his huge hunched form would do and had worked out a long time ago how to take advantage of it.

The smashing sound of Gregor's footsteps snapped Sonia out of her daze, more than that, it seemed to break whatever had being holding Sonia above her fear, like a tightrope had been cut she came smashing down back into reality, no safety net, no harness, just unforgiving truth. Now she was staring into Gregor's face, the beaver had one eye above the other due to the tilt of his head, and that eye stared right into hers, his eye was jaundiced with heavy bags under it and a small, beady pupil, the other eye just hung with perhaps a little too much precision, gazing up and down the small girl infront of him, leaving Sonia with no idea which eye was actually looking at her. The rest of the beaver's face was equally disturbing, two huge crooked teeth stuck out from below an equally crooked smile showing off broken yellow teeth; one of the beaver's ears was missing and scars crisscrossed his gnarled face. Sonia found herself pulling away from the figure in shock, using all her strength of will to resist screaming.

The beaver smiled, reaching out with one of his hands and grabbing Sonia by the spines on the top of her head, tugging her back to standing up right, pulling her up onto her tiptoes. Gregor tilted Sonia's head up so it was inches from his own, he smiled squinting, sizing the girl up like a piece of meat. She could feel the beaver's breath on her face, she could hear his deep voice grating and booming in her ears, as if half a ton of gravel and metal was trying to make its way out of his windpipe.

"What do we have here?" The beaver wrenched Sonia off her feet and placed his other arm on her wrist, "Good pulse rate." He stared at Sonia's face, which was fast changing itself into a look of pure panic, "Interesting psychological case."

Sonia's mind was screaming, she tried to lash out at the medic but he didn't even flinch, she yelled and struggled; and all the time the voice in the back of her head laughed, mocking her and insulting the huge beaver, "Get him off you useless piece of trash, you can take him, he's a doctor for God's sake!"

"Not very brave though." Gregor frowned, both his eyes moving in opposite directions, up and down the little girl, "Poor posture as well, doesn't look too bright." Gregor released Sonia's hair, gripping her wrist tighter, he swung his body round smashing her to the floor. He turned away, leaving the girl sobbing quietly on the ground, "Low pain tolerance too." He turned back to the commander, "You had better hope _commander _that this is not the best you have to offer, after all, I would hate for my hands to be so shaky from overwork that... oh I don't know, you suddenly found yourself swallowing fifty different types of poison... at once, I wonder what the effect on your body would be, maybe you'd feel your heart stop... shame you wouldn't be able to tell me." The beaver smiled easily again, turning back to the recruits, scanning his eyes back over them.

His eyes widened as they settled on the green squirrel in the long coat, he squinted, both his eyes settling in the same place, firmly on the boy's face. He blinked a few times, then-

"That one," almost too quiet to hear, the wolf commander didn't react, Gregor growled, "I said I want that one!" He whirled on the wolf, "Give me that cadet or so help me, my entire medicine cabinet will end up in your next meal and I will personally dissect your head while you are dying." From anyone else the threat would have seemed comical, but the wolf commander was sure that the beaver infront of him was serious (this was Gregor for God's sake). With a single stride he crossed the ranks, grabbing the squirrel by the scruff of his coat and almost throwing him towards the medical commander. Gregor smiled and gripped the squirrel tightly by the shoulder. "I believe that fills my vacancies. Have fun with your cadets _commander _I look forward to your dissection, if only to work out how they fit so much evil into such a small shell."

He left as quickly as he could, not looking back, his uneven footsteps soon disappearing into the darkness of the camp. Sonia tried to raise her head to watch him go, but her tears began to flow again as the commander's steel capped boot struck her in the stomach.

"Unfortunately for you children," The commander's voice boomed in her ears, "That was the kindest, most trustworthy person you will meet in this camp, so I suggest you heed my earlier warnings." He gripped Sonia by her leg, wrenching her off the ground, "Got that kid?"

Sonia tried would have struggled, she would have struck out, but she saw the look in the commander's eyes and she felt her blood run cold. Her mouth opened and closed, her brain struggled to process what she had just been told. Gregor couldn't be the most kind, that meant... Tears began to stream down her face, first in thin lines but quickly in torrents, her breaths came as ragged sobs as she looked up into the commander's grim face...

"Y-ye..." She could barely spit out the words "Yes sir." and the voice in back of her head reared up, screaming and roaring, "_You're pathetic. Useless cow. Pathetic."_

... ...

Flaky's eyes opened as soon as her senses returned, she had learnt from experience that keeping your eyes closed, even for a second, would make all your nightmares come true, or at least that's what she believed. She cast a hasty look around, everything, white pristine bed, dark wood chair, white washed walls and ceiling. She stretched her hand out, gingerly; the gun she had had earlier was still lying there, but suddenly the distance seemed like a thousand miles, she reached out but her hand didn't even make it a fraction of the way before it slammed down to the floor. She struggled to stand, but if she hadn't been able to stretch out her hand... well then how could she stand? She made it to her knees- obviously stronger now- and was about to fall forward when a hand gripped her arm.

"Are you in need of assistance ma'am?" It was more of a statement than a question. Flaky found herself pulled to her feet, still staring up, eyes struggling to get accustomed to the light as her legs slipped and slid beneath her. Another arm came to steady her, this one slightly less strong and she found herself staring at two people she had forgotten for a second. Blue fur fell over a dark red mask, and below that a self confident smile proclaimed to the world just who had entered the room. He was...

The name jumped away from her at the last minute, she closed her eyes, trying to find it. But every time she drew close to the word, it slipped away again. As she opened her eyes her vision swam, she tried to say something, but instead of sound she just fell forward, vomiting.

"Uggh!" Splendid (the word jumped out at her suddenly) leapt back with incredible speed, settling close to the ceiling with a look of disgust on his face. He seemed to regain composure within a second though and that confident smile returned, he said something but the words jumbled themselves somewhere between Flaky's ears and what he said came out as a mess.

The second figure, standing slightly behind Flaky steadied her a bit more effectively, the pink chipmunk was taller than Flaky and leaned slightly over to grip her wrist. Although Flaky couldn't quite place the name, it was reassuring to have her there and her voice was a lot clearer, slower perhaps, than the squirrel's, "I think it's a mild concussion," Flaky didn't quite understand the words that followed, she tried but her brain just couldn't cope, something about Flippy, something important, then the squirrel was gone and Flaky was left leaning heavily on the chipmunk.

The chipmunk placed Flaky on the hospital bed and crossed to the door, sighed, and turned to Flaky, looking at the cross-eyed porcupine with a look of... what was that? It was something like pity, but no, not quite. Then what?

"I'm not even sure if you can understand me Flaky." She smiled rather sadly, "It's funny to think that the easiest way to get you better would be..." She trailed off, still with that strange expression on her face, pity and... what? Flaky squinted slightly, trying to work it out, but as quickly as it was there it was gone. Giggles (another name jumping out on her) turned to the door again and looked out, turned back to Flaky for a second. Then crossed the room and settled herself into the chair by the bed.

... ...

Flippy ran, left, right, right, left again. He wasn't quite sure where he was going, just needing to escape, imaginary enemies sprouted from all sides, but before they had solidified he was past them, or through them, his knife spinning up and down in a great surge of blood and a grim voice screaming in the back of his head and smashing its fists on the wall.

"_What are you doing? Forget your mind, focus on the facts you..." _But the insults collapsed under Flippy's own fear.

Left, right, left, left, dodge, back track, left, left, right. Huge barbed wire topped walls rose up on either side of the green bear, he had left his ghostly companion behind him long ago and now he pushed on on his own. But it was useless, he couldn't escape, there was no way out. Flippy was at the point of collapse, he couldn't go on, he ducked into a shadowy alley, a real object jumping out among the figment and delusion, and fell to his knees.

Flippy felt sobs shaking his frame, he couldn't handle this, that was why he had created him. He could hear the voice inside his head again, it seemed to have calmed down. Maybe it was safe... maybe it had changed, maybe he could-

"_-Let it out. Don't forget I know what you're thinking." _Flippy shook the nightmare voice away, he sighed and opened his eyes; to see tranquil grass, pink unicorns and a wall of glass.

... ...

Flippy stepped out of the alley with far more confidence than he had entered it, blinking in the sunlight, it had been a long time since he had been out of the back alleys and actually looked into the light. He smiled, his mouth curling into a grim sneer, reaching up he twisted his beret round to rest properly on his head and drew a massive knife from his belt, feeling the sharpness of the blade and smiling again; the corners of his mouth twitching uncomfortably into an awkward shape.

Flippy twisted the knife back and forth in his hands, the joy of his new freedom fading fast, he had a job to do.

Flippy had to find his daughter, and he had to admit he didn't have a clue where to start; he had never known much about his daughter's friends, sure there had been the stake-outs (just to make sure that those sleepovers were safe) and he had attempted to interrogate virtually every person Sonia had bumped into. Until that idiot of a _good _self had shoved him back down, huh, good, that guy didn't care. When you cared you would do anything, absolutely anything. If he had really cared would their (no His) wife have died so many times? Would his (no their) daughter have been killed so many times by the universe? Caring wasn't cushions, caring wasn't sparkles and rainbows; caring was surviving, caring was smashing the world, crushing the planet so your family was safe. That was what care was!

But he had become sidetracked, where to start? He could always start at... he licked his lips and barred his sharp teeth, what was the name?

"Stop EVILDOER!" Flippy looked up and swore, above him, swinging through the air like some glorified bug, a blue squirrel was soaring down, "It is my prerogative to stop your heinous acts for I am..."

Flippy flicked his knife out, hurling it with all his might at the superhero, "I know who you are damn it! Now get lost, I have enough to deal with without your charade."

The squirrel looked slightly taken aback, hovering high in the air, then he seemed to regain his resolve, he opened his mouth to speak- and was struck in the back of the head by a crossbow bolt.

"Get out of the airspace." The voice moved far too quickly, blurring through words, merging them together, "Get going, get moving, get out." The voice collapsed into maniacal laughter and the speaker appeared, wobbling forwards, tripping every few seconds and falling sideways, "Ugh what's the point? It's not like this'll get me candy, I need candy." He slipped forwards, wrapping a hand round the back of Flippy's neck and pulled his face uncomfortably close to Flippy's, "You got any-"

He fell forwards as Flippy smashed the butt of his second knife down on the manic squirrel's head and watched him crumple to the ground, looking up grimly at Splendid, who was rising back to his feet.

"Hurts like hell, knives do nothing, bullets break, but bolts... Hurt like hell."

Flippy growled, "Stop whining captain wuss, far as I've heard you've only died once."

Splendid groaned, all pretense of heroics forgotten, "Your heard about that? Man I got to talk to my agent."

Flippy shrugged, "Get out of my way _masked avenger _I've got something to do."

"I will not allow you to take anymore lives."

Flippy exploded, charging towards Splendid, who deflected his knife with a flick of his wrist, "Who said anything about killing! I've got something important to do!" Flippy lifted his knife again and brought it down with immense force smashing it into Splendid's head, but the squirrel didn't even flinch, "Get out of my way!" He brought the knife down again and again, but each time the squirrel caught it, "Move!"

Splendid stared down at him for a second, watching the green bear get tireder and tireder. "You do realise that this doesn't hurt at all." Flippy glared up at him, picking up a bolt from Nutty's quiver and smashing it into Splendid's arm, the squirrel looked down, "Was that...?" The war veteran nodded, "Excuse me a moment..." The _hero _gripped his arm, "God that hurts!"

Flippy smashed the blue superhero in the chin with the butt of his now-useless gun, sending him crumpling to the ground, "Now tell me that '_doesn't hurt at all_'." For a second he looked backwards and forwards between the two unconscious squirrels, suddenly surprisingly cheerful, "So... Last standing says... I start in town." He turned on his heel, heading with urgent, cautious steps towards the tall buildings of Happy Tree Town.

... ...

Sonia's senses were screaming, her breaths kept on coming, but she wasn't sure for how long... Or even quite what she meant. She was exhausted, not thinking straight, she felt like she was going to collapse, she just couldn't go on.

She had been selected for the bodyguard group, for the commander (though she couldn't see why), at first she had been relieved, after all anything was preferable to a suicide mission a day, surely the commander couldn't do anything worse than that...

An hour later and she was already regretting her assignment. It had been the greatest moment of her life when the commander had relieved them. She was still standing in the parade ground, too tired to even take a step at the moment. She looked around the children there, some of them were crying loudly, even more worrying some of them were silent. They weren't up to this, they were just a bunch of pathetic kids, and she realised with a jolt that she was one of them.

A flash of green filled her vision, "One of them, don't make me laugh. You're about as far away from them as you could be, the safest way... But I don't want to be... You will be kid, you don't want to die... no... then just follow what I say okay?"

Sonia was just about to answer, when another voice snapped her back to reality, "Are you okay?" She turned to see Cub behind her, he was sitting splayed out on the ground, obviously as exhausted as she was; his head lolled slightly, but then he looked up again, clearly expecting an answer this time.

Sonia nodded, once, it was all she could manage, stiffly and slowly, before turning and looking away, up into the clouded sky.

The clouds broke, torrents suddenly released, a crescendo of thunder and lightening, Sonia was glad for it. It hid her tears, it made it seem like the world agreed with her pain, living in Happy Tree Town Sonia had long ago decided that the world hated her, the rain changed her mind. Usually. Now something hung over her mind like a vulture.

"If this is a war, who are we fighting?"

Cub sighed, lying back and letting the rain wash over him, the commander had taken a special dislike to him and his fur was matted with sweat, "No one. No wars have been fought near here since your father was young. We learnt that in history." He explained sullenly, trying to throw a connection back to another world, a world where things made sense, in vain hope that that world would appear infront of him, "I think this is more of a war of revenge, striking out against people who can't strike back." He groaned.

Sonia sat heavily onto the ground, "So why did the commander talk about suicide missions."

Cub frowned watching as Sonia hugged that book of hers tightly, what he would have given for a comfort like that, "I don't want to think about it Sonia, this is bad enough without thinking."


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: I'm sorry for the wait, I've been a bit busy finishing off one of my other fics (writer's block's a killer). Thanks again to Gunslingers-White-Roses and Kenikitten: I'll make sure they get your message, every bit of encouragement is a helping hand and you seem to have thought your encouragement through. I hope everyone else has been enjoying this fic as well. That last chapter might have ended on a bit of an anticlimax, but I sort of felt that it had to end there.**

_Disclaimer: I don't own HTF and I apologise for any semblance to__ real life or a carefully planned fic._

Chapter 9: Family.

Handy groaned, watching his wife clean the already spotless table top for the sixth time in an hour. If it had been anyone else Handy would have left ages ago, more likely he would have just knocked them out and dragged them out of the room. This was different though, this was family. So he just sat there and tried to talk, he watched as she scrubbed the table so hard that it grazed the skin off her knuckles, he watched as the meager splash of blood caused Petunia's eyes to fill with panic, and her to hurry out of the room to begin cleaning all over again. Then he just sat and stared at his hands, or rather where they should be. This was his fault dammit, this was all his damn fault, if he had just been more careful, if he had kept better care of the children, if he had...

It didn't help. Handy sighed and turned his thoughts to his wife, Petunia wasn't a fragile person, if she had been she never would have lasted ten seconds in this town and he had to admit he admired her sunny outlook (something that he had never managed to keep for more than a second), but she worried. Petunia worried about everything, when the children had been gone five minutes, about specks of dirt and minor deaths, and when she worried she cleaned. She couldn't help it. Petunia would start a routine and clean for hours. If even a speck of dust escaped her notice she would start all over again... And Handy couldn't do anything about it. God he felt useless, just sitting here. If it had been anyone else, anyone, he would have gone. But this was his wife, his precious, wonderful wife, he knew she wanted to search for her children, he also knew she couldn't, that her mind wouldn't let her go until she had finished making sure that the house was spotless.

So Handy just sat there, hating the world even more than usual, if it had been anyone else he would have gone. But this was Petunia and he would stay by her side even if it cost him his life a million times over.

... ...

Pop placed the book back on its pile and smiled. It was a photo album, a leather bound portal to take him back to happier times. His wedding day, his son's birth, a few solitary photos of his own father. He hoped he had made the old man proud, but he knew he hadn't. Pop's dad had been the greatest father a boy could ask for, he had kept the world safe and polished for his son, what did Pop have compared to that? A son who had died a thousand times and now didn't even stop to spare his old man a passing thought. Pop groaned and settled back into his chair, all happy memories fading fast. Sometimes he wished that his son didn't exist, he turned his back on him and tried to go back to the time when he had had a wife by his side, but then she would always remind him of his son, she would send him back here, and he would feel awful for trying to block out real life...

"You have a son now." She would tell him, "Don't forget about him, I'm gone and it is time for you to get on with your life." When he asked if he would ever see her again she had answered, "You're seeing me now."

Pop sighed, she was always so far away and now Cub was drifting away from him. His life was slipping slightly, Pop had spent a lifetime trying to seem perfect, perfect family, perfect host, perfect... But what did it all matter? Where had it all got him? His son thought that Pop didn't understand him, but Pop knew better, after all who would want a father like him; he was strict, he ignored his son too often.

Pop got to his feet, pulling on his usual coat he crossed to the door, spending one glance for the photo album that held all his past. He had spent too much time chasing memories, it was time to make amends with the people he still had.

... ...

Back at home Sonia had rarely had a nightmare and when she had her mother had always listened, always understood why she was scared. Sonia had often wondered whether her mother wasn't more scared of her nightmares than she was, scared that they might somehow hunt her down and come true. Now Sonia would have given anything for a sympathetic ear. She had rarely had nightmares and she had never had a nightmare like this.

It seemed so real, she could feel the swish of the grass on her legs, the wind cutting against her. She stood in a clean grassy field, tranquil and peaceful, but she could feel it, on the breeze, on the grass, something was wrong. Infront of her, rising up to the sky and beyond, stretching out to the left and right, stood a wall of frosted, thick glass.

The glass was cold to the touch, that was whenever she could touch it, whenever Sonia reached out for it the glass seemed to melt away, sink away from her as if fleeing. But when she tried to ignore it, suddenly it would come flooding forwards so that it slammed into her. It didn't want her too close, but at the same time it wouldn't let her go and beyond it... Beyond the wall two bright green eyes stared out, evaluating her, sneering at all her faults, pouring scorn on everything.

The two eyes disturbed her and that fear grew into anger, "Just talk okay." She yelled at the wall, which suddenly seemed to fill the whole world, folding out and casting a shadow over her, "You obviously want to talk so just-"

"-Say something." A chorus of voices from behind the wall interrupted her, mimicking her voice exactly. The wall seemed to shake slightly, then slowly, immensely a silhouette formed behind the eyes. The glass began to clear and Sonia leapt in surprise as she saw-

"Dad?" Her voice seemed far away and quiet, her father didn't look up. Was it him? Yes, it had to be, every detail was correct, his dog tags gleamed, his highly polished boots virtually shone, not a lock of green fur was different to the last time she saw him. She found herself running, running towards him, she couldn't help it, she just wanted to curl up in her father's arms and cry and escape from everything that had happened.

The wall stopped her, almost throwing her off her feet as it smashed into her, she looked up tears in her eyes, why couldn't she get to her father? Then she saw something that made her blood run cold. Her father was smiling. Not his usual cheerful smile when she managed something, not even the grim smile he got when he was really angry, although that one scared her enough. The smile was truly deranged, the smile tweaked at the corners of his mouth, cruel and vicious. It was like he was enjoying her pain, and as the glass cleared Sonia saw more, her father was soaked, from head to toe, in blood, it poured from the huge knife held in his hands. He opened his mouth, exposing his teeth. Sonia had never thought much about her father's looks, to her he had always seemed nice enough, but now she realised just how sharp her father's teeth were, just how dangerous they looked, they too were covered in blood, and Sonia found herself flinching back. The spectre in the mirror laughed.

"So dear what did you want to talk about?" The voice sounded so casual, but Sonia couldn't tear her eyes away from the look of cruelty in his eyes, "What's the matter sweetie? It's me, Dad." Sonia flinched at the word, "Oh, I guess it is a bit early for me to introduce myself. Perhaps you'd rather talk to your mother."

Sonia watched horrified as the blood on her father's uniform began to flow again, pooling and pouring out of every part of his fur, the blood twisted covering Flippy's entire body. She screamed, wishing she could look away, but every time she turned her head the image followed her. The blood dripping and sliding, covering everything except her father's smile and eyes, and at last even his sharp teeth slipped away under the torrent, leaving just the green eyes staring out. The eyes blinked twice and the blood stopped flowing.

Sonia focused on it, forcing herself not to be sick, come to think of it, wasn't blood normally a bit more vibrant, less orange. Blood shouldn't be so gloopy either, the liquid seemed almost like syrup. Now it was sticking, bubbling up into long thin spines, boiling up into shape. Sonia breath stuck in her throat as she saw her mother form out of the goo, standing nervously, fidgeting and blinking, her eyes that same violent green. The wall of glass shrunk again, as if it could feel Flaky's fear and was trying to fold itself away, disappear completely, but then the porcupine looked up and her desperate eyes settled on Sonia.

"Sonia, where are you?" Her voice was barely more than a whisper. "Where did you go?"

The question took Sonia by surprise, she ran forwards, trying to reach the wall, but it leapt away, "Mum, I'm right here." But Flaky didn't react, "Come on look up. I'm right here."

Tears were flowing down Flaky's face now, she gulped for air then spoke again, "This is all my fault Sonia, I never should have let you go, never should have let you run off, I should have-" She gulped again, "Wherever you are, I just want you to know I'm sorry." She buried her head in her hands, "Oh God. I can't do this." Flaky fell to her knees, sobs shaking her body, and suddenly Sonia felt different.

She felt weak, she felt helpless. Suddenly everything was dangerous, the grass could cut her and she might bleed to death, the sunlight could burn, that glass could shatter at any minute. Everything was suddenly more terrifying than her worst nightmare, everything was suddenly out to get her, a death waiting to happen, and it wasn't the fear of death, of not being here tomorrow, it was how it would feel, knowing full well how painful it would be to die, to feel your...

"Mum!" Her voice came out as a scream, "Help me!"

Flaky looked up, terror showing in her eyes, "No. NO! This isn't happening." She began to curl up, the spines on her back standing on end, "I'm sorry..." Barely a whisper, "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

Sonia reached out to her, "Mum I-"

"NO!" Flaky's voice came out as a shriek, "NO! Leave me alone. I'm sorry. I..." Her voice tailed off and she blinked, when her eyes opened Flaky was gone, instead Sonia's father was sitting on the ground, "As you can see your mother isn't on this side of sanity right now. She hasn't been the same since you died."

Sonia almost collapsed, "Died? But that never bothered Mum before. I mean, we always came back."

Flippy grinned again, "Not this time I'm afraid. You died out here and you were gone forever, Flaky couldn't take it, she was always rather..." He stretched the word, "_Fragile._"

Sonia was thrown, "But I'm not dead am I?"

Flippy smiled, "Not yet. But you will be, unless..."

Sonia's fear was growing, she almost threw herself to her knees, begging, "Unless what? Please."

Flippy's smile widened, like a cat that had just seen a mouse, "You've been given an option Sonia, a way out, something that not many people have but..." He spread his arms, "I guess I'm more dominant than Flaky's pathetic psyche." He laughed, "You've got me." He raised his arms, shrinking, small quills grew from his back and Sonia found herself staring at a perfect reflection, except with green eyes, "Now, I believe you'll be leaving now."

And the wall of glass shattered throwing Sonia into the darkness.

... ...

Splendid was on his feet again before he even regained consciousness (a skill that could be very annoying in everyday life) and so by the time his eyes opened all he needed to do was start walking. He jumped slightly when he noticed that Nutty was no longer lying on the ground, if he wasn't there then...

His question was answered a second later as virtual tornado of candy and spit smashed into Splendid, clinging onto him with sheer panic, "I need help. Come on, HELP ME!"

Splendid threw the other squirrel off, sending him rocketing through a wall (maybe that was a bit too hard), "You really do need help."

He went to walk away, but the other squirrel was forcing himself slowly to his feet, Splendid sighed, sometimes it didn't pay to be the hero, he flew over to Nutty gripping him by the arm, the manic squirrel seemed to be firmly resisting being lifted though and Splendid eventually had drag him back to his feet, "I didn't mean that sort of help."

The statement took Splendid by surprise, "What do you mean?"

Nutty laughed, "My candy and me are fine. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no..." He began to wave his head from side to side, dancing in little circles as he did so, he seemed to have forgotten what he was saying. So Splendid slapped him (smashing him into the ground and breaking his wrist and left ribs). "Thanks, I needed that." Nutty stopped to consider, "No wait I didn't. Anywaaaaaay. I don't need help with candy, no, no, no, no..." He trailed off, seeing Splendid's glare, "This is about my son." He began laughing again, enjoying the shock on Splendid's face. His body arching as he collapsed in hysterics, "I knew this would be fun, I knew it."

... ...

In the corner of one of the barracks, two of the recruits huddled together. The small skunk Stanley was beyond the point of panic, just a quivering ball in his sisters arms. Sander just sat alert, trying to look as dangerous as possible while at the same time keeping awake. She had managed to wrap her hugely oversized coat round her legs and her brother's curled up body, he would stay safe even if she wouldn't. She blinked, trying to hold back the tears, she had a shallow wound above her left eye and it hurt like hell. She had told Stanley that she had tripped when captured, the truth... Well, she just hoped no one would notice the bloodstains on her old clothing, or the knife that was currently tucked neatly into her boot (she had seen that done in the movies, but in reality it had made it very difficult to walk). Sander had always been the tough one, the one who kept her little brother safe, but right now she would have given anything, she would have endured all her brother's fears and perfectionism just to be able to sit back and have someone protect her. She hugged her brother close, he wasn't sleeping, but in this condition she didn't think he was really aware of anything. Stanley was afraid of so many things, at home their mother would deal with it, she had always known how to calm Stanley down, but out here... Sander felt more tears welling up. She had to stay strong, for both their sakes, but this was so hard. She stroked her brother's hair carefully flattening it down, trying to remember how her mother had dealt with this. She just had to remember, but she was so tired.

Before Sander had even started her head lolled. Yes, she would remember, right after she slept, she just needed sleep. Before Sander could even think another thing her head fell forwards and she was asleep.

Stanley looked up, the look of panic he had had since coming here disappearing slowly. He frowned, his sister was tired, she might want to protect him but she couldn't. He needed to survive on his own, he shifted his weight so that he could look out of the blanket. He could do this. Then he saw the blood on the floor of the barracks. The look of panic returned in an instant and he collapsed back into a shivering ball. Neither of them were strong enough, Stanley knew it. Maybe that was why he was so terrified.

... ...

Flippy darted along yet another side road, Sonia hadn't been at school, at the mall (although what a nine year old would be doing there Flippy didn't know) and he severely hoped she hadn't been at her friend Lucy's house, especially since he had just caused the entire building to collapse.

In all fairness Flippy was getting desperate, he didn't really know where he was heading amidst all these overly colourful buildings and trees, but the soldier inside Flippy was in command now, this was a mission and you never gave up till a mission was complete, especially not if it involved your daughter.

He reached the end of the road, quickly making a decision and dashing to the left, speeding up and dodging out into a main street. Houses loomed up ahead of him and with a jolt Flippy realised that he knew where he was going. His worthless weak self had come here a few times, mainly parties and such. He had had to sit in the back of the bear's mind listening to him make small-talk. Small-talk for God's sake. It had been unbearable. He guessed that his other self must have friends here. He shook his head, the idea of people like his pathetic other was almost terrifying. He grimaced, before making a decision and marching up to the door. He struck it a few times with his fist and, when no one answered, proceeded to smash the door of its hinges.

He smiled at the panic that caused, the blue skunk who had been excessively dusting the walls (to the point at which the paint began to peel off) let out a scream and tried to run. Flippy caught her by the tail, his usual love of violence over coming even his desire to find his daughter momentarily. His senses returned swiftly though and he recognised the skunk, his daughter knew their children, they would know something. His hand tightened on the skunk's tail, pulling her backwards so that she fell heavily onto the ground. Flippy laughed, he'd forgotten how fun pure brutality could be, always following around after some kid having to play the goody-goody, he... Flippy stopped, he released the blue skunk's tail, burying his face in that hand. Idiot. How could he have thought that? Even for a second he had wished his daughter didn't exist. He looked up, to see a beaver whose arms ended in stumps glaring at him.

"Please." He was suddenly aware of how gruff and angry his voice sounded, "I need help."

The beaver wrapped his arm as protectively as he could around the blue skunk, his glare growing more angry, "Y'know, if I thought that was true for a second, even for a second, I wouldn't do this."

The beaver smashed a button with one of his stumps, watching as an almost comically labeled TNT dropped from the ceiling and landed directly infront of the green bear. Handy gripped his wife's arm as best he could, turning and dragging her as quickly as he could out of the hall, painfully aware of just what she'd do to him if his security device actually worked. Petunia had spent hours cleaning that room, hours more than necessary and Handy was well aware that if the hall was to blow up, Petunia would never be able to leave the house until it was rebuilt.

Fortunately for him Flippy had some experience with bombs and cut the fuse a lot quicker than Handy would have hoped. Bounding after the beaver, if someone went to this extent to protect themselves there were two possibilities:

They knew something.

They were really, really scared.

Probably both.

... ...

"Are you going to help or not?"

Cuddles was yelling across the room, trying to ignore the cold and see into the shadows. When he had got here he had found the home's resident skulking in the shadows. If you could call being frozen skulking. Cuddles had managed to piece together what had happened, he'd talked to Giggles, he had found Nutty wandering in the forest. It wasn't hard to see what was going on, so while everyone else was dashing around, trying to ignore what had happened, Cuddles had come here.

Cuddles had known some of the children who had gone missing, he had liked quite a few of them so he had decided to help, simple as that. He wasn't one for charity, the rabbit had never seen the point, if you were going to die anyway then what was the point of money or so on, it wasn't like it would help. He knew it was harsh, but that was how he felt, maybe that might also be why he'd come here. He had a personal attachment, just like the unmoving figure in the shadows. Cro-Marmot's daughter Lucy had been with Sonia at the time, from what he could work out from Nutty's description. But if he was honest that wasn't why he had come here.

Cro was clever. Cuddles needed someone who could think.

He had seen what the marmot could do.

And there wasn't anyone in Happy Tree Town he trusted less.

But if Happy Tree Town needed anything right now it was organisation and Cro was the best person for that job. Well except Sniffles, but he'd been hit by a harpoon yesterday and, what could Cuddles say, some people didn't have his natural recovery speed.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Thanks again for all the reviews. Also Kenikitten you seem to have put far more thought into Sonia's evil self than I have yet, it just struck me that I never thought of a name for her or Flippy's psychopathic side. It's good to know I'm not the only one enjoying this fic. Unfortunately this is my last pre-prepared chapter so updates will probably be slower from now on.  
**

_Disclaimer: I don't own HTF. I just use the characters, blah blah blah. (If anyone read this they'd realise they are completely unconnected to the story.)_

Chapter 10: War Party.

Cuddles pulled himself out of the wreckage that had been Cro-Marmot's house, dragging the caveman behind him.

"This would be a lot easier if you would move." He paused, "What do you mean you're thinking?" He stepped away from the ice-cube and glared at the creature. "Why don't you pull your weight?... I know, I know."

The yellow rabbit gripped the ice's slippery surface and struggled to lift it yet again, he groaned under the weight. Cuddles frowned back at Cro-Marmot, he used to trust the caveman and he remembered how that had turned out.

"You're lucky that lives are a stake... Will you shut up about that."

With that the grumbling rabbit set off, lugging the massive lump of ice as best he could, onto his back; both of them however failed to notice their audience. Two squirrels slunk back into the shadows, the shorter of the two's manic laughter finally pouring out, as if he could not hold it for more than ten seconds.

"See, I told you this was serious, hehehehehe."

"Are you going to follow them or not?"

... ...

After several hours Flaky was finally beginning to recover. Words and memories flowed back into her mind, pooling into to place and flooding slightly over the edges. She had always been cautious though, when her sense had returned as things came back into her head Flaky would wait a minute (maybe longer) before revealing that it was back. Due to this Flaky noticed things, she noticed just how much safer the room felt since Flippy had left, she noticed how tired she felt, and finally she noticed that, as Giggles became aware of how awake Flaky was the look she had had in her eyes disappeared, to be replace with the usual kind friendliness. Part of Flaky was relieved, not being able to work out what someone was thinking had been terrifying, but another part of her worried; had she just imagined that look? Was she just being paranoid? But still, why would Giggles go to so much trouble to stop her from knowing what she felt? Her mind raced. What could Giggles be hiding from her? What if there was a secret she didn't know? What if everyone was in on it? What if everyone was just pretending to be her friends? What if she was the only one dying all the time and everyone else was just faking? What if everyone was out to punish her, to hurt her? After all Flippy had done that enough times.

Flaky buried her face in the blankets of her bed, she could feel the tears on her cheeks. With all her memories had come all her fears, spiders, heights, Flippy, blood, mirrors, chicks, Flippy, knives, guns, explosions, everything. Flaky was terrified of everything, and right now it was all closing in on her, her phobias came from every direction, surrounding her, pinning her in and at the front... Sonia sat in Flaky's mind, throwing blame and condemnation at her along with her fears.

"_You shouldn't have left me alone... You're a terrible mother... Even The Soldier is safer than you." _Flaky's tears were flowing faster and faster, her greatest fear slowly realising itself in the back of her mind. She was useless, a useless parent, a useless friend, a useless person. She had all the competence and bravery of a baby. She could feel sobs shaking through her body, useless, useless, useless. She felt an arm on her wrist, someone trying to talk to her. Ha, why should they bother, it wasn't like she had anything to add, useless. She could hear someone calling her name, it sounded far away, she just blocked it out. It wasn't like anyone could really care about her.

"Flaky, are you okay?" Giggles' voice finally penetrated Flaky's nightmares, "Flaky, you need to get up." She sounded like the porcupine's mother.

Flaky's tears dried, her breathing coming back under control, she could remember her mother, just about. Back when the world had made sense, before Flaky had come here, her mother had been the one to make everything safer, she had put Flaky's mind at ease. But that had been so long ago, Flaky's tears began welling up again. She hadn't seen her mother for years, she couldn't remember her mother's interests, or fears. She couldn't remember her mother's voice. It brought tears to her eyes to realise that, about the woman who had brought her into the world, the person she had meant the world to, she knew nothing. She couldn't even remember her mother's face. Yet more tears cascaded down her face, worthless. How could you not remember your parents? They were the closest people to you. No wonder everyone saw her as useless. She was...

"Flaky, snap out of it." Flaky felt an impact on her arm, blinking back into reality she looked up to see Pop glaring down at her, the brown bear looked more angry than she'd ever seen him before. He was grating his pipe in between his teeth, he was obviously enraged and seemed to be channeling all his frustration at Flaky. "Get up, someone wants to see you."

Despite Giggles' protests Pop lifted Flaky to her feet, half-leading, half-dragging her out of the hospital room, the building and out into the street.

Flaky looked around her blearily, beside her she could here Pop groaning with the effort, she wasn't light and he was getting older, she groaned and tried stand on her own. Failing again Flaky stumbled and fell forwards, Pop sighed, gripping her tightly by the arm and pulling her back to her feet. She wobbled for a second, before looking up at the group of people before her.

On one side Flaky could see a small table, absurdly set up with fine china and wine crystal, and three people sitting behind it. Petunia leaned feverishly over the surface, polishing and cleaning, her hands blurring with movement. Her husband sat next to her, tapping the table occasionally for someone to pass him something, looking even angrier than Pop but acting for all the world as if he were at a tea party. To the left of those two was placed a massive ice-cube and staring blankly from its depths sat Cro-Marmot. Flaky's eyes rested on him for a second, that impassive stare, the isolation from everyone that seemed thicker than the ice, he'd always given her the creeps.

The other side was a different story. In contrast to the rapid movements near the table (except of course for Cro) the two figures that stood there were practically statues. Flippy stood rigidly at attention, for a second Flaky felt herself tense, just looking at him made her feel... Memories kept flooding back, she turned to look away, then realised she couldn't as Pop was still holding her up so she just stared past him. She couldn't help noticing though that Flippy hadn't been looking at her, he had been looking off into space, focusing intently at something that wasn't there and his eyes hadn't had a single trace of green.

Beyond Flippy sat Cuddles, on yet another ornate chair, he seemed lost in another world, his body still as stone, his gaze cold and unfocused. Yet as Flaky looked closer the illusion seemed to collapse, the yellow rabbit was shaking quietly and the look on his face, seemed to be one of the most empty things Flaky had ever seen.

"Ugh... Everyone on your feet." Pop's voice sounded tired, completely worn-down. He looked across the group, "I think everyone's here." He turned to Flaky, helping her to a chair next to Handy, "We mostly know why we're here I think, so now we need a plan."

Flaky sat in her chair, watching the group planning, feeling completely alienated. She knew this had something to do with Sonia, but if that was true then why were Handy and Petunia here? They were friends, but she didn't know how they had found out about Sonia. Had Flippy told them? No, he'd been totally unable to accept the situation as real. Then why...?

"This is pointless." Handy was talking now, leaning his feet on the table and frowning, "How can we make a plan when we don't even know what's going on?"

At the sound of his voice Petunia finally seemed to snap out of her cleaning, she looked up, her hand slowly coming to rest, clenching tightly around the edge of the table. "We can't just do nothing."

Handy's expression changed immediately, he whirled round to face his wife, hugging her as tightly as he could with just his stumps, "That's not what I meant dear, it's just..." He trailed off with a sigh, trying to calm his wife down. Now she had stopped cleaning though, it was as if her emotions were boiling over. Sobs racked Petunia's frame and tears cascaded down her face. Handy glared at the group, his face silently blaming everyone and daring them to go anywhere near his wife.

But in Flaky's mind everything was starting to fit together. Why was everyone here? She could tell just by looking at Petunia's face, it was exactly how she felt. That meant... More children had disappeared besides Sonia. Flaky managed to contain her shock though, she had always been good at hiding her emotions, people saw only mild nervousness where there was an absolute terror of everything. Flaky just sat absorbing all this new information and silently cursing herself for being so selfish. No wonder no one cared about her. Useless.

... ...

In the darkness of the camp Gregor staggered along, from tent to tent, the smashing sound his tail made shattering the silence and scaring wildlife. Infront of he guided the squirrel in the long coat. He smiled lopsidedly, it had been a long time since he had had a new recruit in medical, it wasn't as if the general cared much for the well being of his soldiers, so Gregor was constantly under staffed. But then again, it wasn't as if he cared for the soldiers either, with a few notable exceptions Gregor was capable of tearing anyone to pieces without a second thought. That notable exception, unfortunately, was right infront of him. Gregor had not liked the general's plans in the slightest, he could detach himself from people with ease, but when it came down to it Gregor could hardly bare to see children in the line of fire. The only reason Gregor managed to maintain his professional cruelty around the recruits was simple, the cause. The cause was everything, they had to win.

Beside him the squirrel shuddered. The beaver commander was terrifying, not just because of his size, but the way people reacted to him, the few soldiers they had run into, who only hours ago had been tormenting him, took one look at Gregor and immediately hurried out of his way, one even screamed. It was satisfying, in a morbid sort of way he realised, to see the fear in people's eyes as you walked past, he also realised how dangerous it was to be with a person who got that kind of response. He hurried along infront of the beaver, painfully aware of how much danger he was probably in and he had thought medical would be the easy way out.

Gregor raised his hand and the squirrel was snapped out of his thoughts, they were approaching a dirty white tent, from inside various sounds could be heard, the sort of sounds that made a normal stomach flip, but neither of the people approaching had what could be described as a normal temperament. Even so the green squirrel buried his face in his coat, giggling nervously.

Gregor just grunted, ripping the tent flap out of the way with unnecessary force he pushed the squirrel forward and stepping after into the darkness.

"Hello gentlemen, I'd like you to say hello to a new recruit."

The squirrel forced his head up slowly, blinking in the darkness. As his eyes became accustomed to the gloom he could hear voices booming across the room. He became aware of a throng of... He should call them doctors, but these people looked like the most unreliable doctor's he had ever met; missing limbs, scar tissue, and smiles that made them look like the figures were sizing up his organs, wondering how much they could pull out of him before he died. The squirrel screamed.

"So does he have a name Gregor?" The figure who had spoken was a gaunt skunk, standing at the front of the surgeons, his smile stretched just slightly too wide for his face, his entire frame too thin for his head, it lolled there looking decisively ill; the bandages over his left cheek weren't helping either, "Can't have a soldier without a name. We need to know what to label his organs." He laughed, it made him sound like he was chocking.

Gregor frowned, looking down at the boy at his feet, he raised one eyebrow and choked out the word, "Name?"

The boy looked down, burying his face in his coat neck again and mumbling something, before collapsing into giggles. If the scene had not been so disturbing it could have been set in a classroom, a nervous new boy faced with a stern old schoolmaster. This illusion was confirmed a few seconds later by Gregor's reply. "What did you say boy?"

The squirrel looked up, giggling still more, his mismatched eyes span around the room settling on Gregor's face, "Toffee." He pushed his head back down into his coat, his shoulders shaking. "Toffee's my name." His giggles subsided. Toffee, Toffee, it was a stupid name. He hated it. Just some bad joke.

And now the comments began, the tormenting. _Toffee, that's a sweet name _etcetera. He could see it in the skunk's eyes, malice, the skunk opened his mouth, but seeing the looking in Gregor's eyes he closed it again. Medical wasn't a walk in the park, but no one was going to insult the newbie... At least not when Gregor was watching.

... ...

Petunia's hand was a blur infront of her. Pain shot across her hand as it burned itself across the rough surface of the table. Cleaning usually made her calm, normally clean was safety. Usually...

But right now it was just hurting her, she wanted to turn away from it, she wanted to run to her husband and find her children. He thought she was strong but she couldn't handle this, not this. Handy was strong, Handy kept on going even when he had lost everything that gave him his power. She envied him, for her the entire world was magnified. A small piece of dirt, others dismissed that as pristine, she didn't know how people could live in such squalour. Dust was dirt, and dirt contained diseases, and diseases could...

Petunia realised that something was touching her hand, she looked down to see someone had gripped her hand. For a second she almost suspected Handy, then looking round, saw the small lamb balanced on the seat behind her, holding a cup of tea. Lammy had arrived a few minutes ago with what some of the more militant creatures (most notably Flippy and Cro) had declared _important evidence. _Still, it was comforting in a way to know that someone had noticed her. Petunia looked down, paling at the amount of blood on the table, her hand moved frantically, trying to wipe it off. The hoof tightened and Lammy twisted Petunia's hand behind her back, holding it there with surprising force.

"I'm really sorry Petunia-aaa," The sheep looked desperate, "You just need to stop for a second." She smiled sadly, "If you keep going you'll just hurt yourself more."

Tears began to form in Petunia's eyes, she began to wail. Hearing this Handy span round to face Lammy, his eyes blazing.

"Get off my wife!" The words came out as a roar, powered by an anger that Petunia could have sworn struck as hard as any blow. The enraged beaver took a step towards the small lamb, the look in his eyes making it clear that it didn't matter that she was small and he had no hands, he would rip her to shreds.

As it was that wasn't necessary, on seeing that look Lammy immediately released Petunia, curling into a ball, her hand shaking so much that she poured boiling tea onto her lap. Tears steamed down the lambs face and, as Petunia's sobs faded, her wails flooded over the group. The lamb fumbled in the pocket of her jumper for a second, drawing out a small pickle.

"Please, it wa-aa-asn't me. I-it waas Mr Pickle. Please," She held up the pickle in shaking hands, apparently ignoring the hot tea that was scolding her skin, "See..." Her eyes were filled with hope and desperation, "See... I-I..."

The group turned away, Petunia's hand had already fallen back onto the table, and without her thinking about it had began to move backwards and forwards, in a desperate attempt to wipe away her blood and every speck of dirt. Usually cleaning helped her, but now wasn't usual... and the only one who really understood how terrible this was, besides her, was Handy.

The main group however had long ago turned itself away from these people, worrying about the madmen was a concern for another day; today must be purely planning. Fortunately the information Lammy had brought came in the form of a single shred of grey material.

"No mistaking it," Flippy's voice came across as deep and scratchy, like a broken record, "This is from the war."

Giggles looked sidewise, glancing at Cro for a second, "Which war?"

"THE war you idiot, the most recent, the one I am under psychiatrist's orders NOT to name under pain of death." He growled, "And I really don't want to die."

Giggles glanced at the cave-marmot again, listening intently, "Why is that important?"

Flippy smiled, "Only one of those monsters is mad enough to come here years after a ceasefire. He shouldn't be too hard to follow, subtlety was never his strong point."

Cuddles frowned, raising his head for a second, "So we can follow whoever did this?" A nod from the soldier, "Then we're going to need weapons, this doesn't sound like it'll be an easy fight."

Flippy smiled briefly, revealing huge sharp teeth that caused the others to flinch away from him, "Don't worry about weapons, I think I can handle that." His smile lapsed again, "Just think up a plan, because if I have to, I'm going to break all those little necks of yours." Flippy blinked once, the darkness falling back into his mind and leaving his eyes clear again. He frowned, "Huh, what's going on?"

Flaky's mind flailed for a minute, wary of a trick. But then, Flippy never seemed to remember what happened while his dark side was in control and he hadn't been happy to accept reality earlier, so what was the harm in lying. "Your just dreaming Flippy, just a... erm" She searched for the word, "Exercise. So if you wouldn't mind, we need to get a lot of weapons very fast." She looked at Flippy's vacant expression on his face, "We also need you to find someone for us."

... ...

Sonia had woken up from her nightmares covered in sweat. Although she hated to admit it this new life hadn't taken nearly as much toll on her as it should have. Her nightmares scared her more than the prospect of death, even permanent death, none of it frightened her as much as what Cub had said. They weren't fighting anyone... Then...

The main infantry had been sent off on what the commander called campaign two days ago, they were set to return today, focus on that. Sonia focused on her friends in the infantry that would be coming back today, after all if there was no enemy they would have survived. She shook the sweat out of her spines and picked her beret up off the floor; it had only been three days but the hat was already filled with holes where her quills had speared through it, doing almost as much damage as the explosion it had no doubt been in. She frowned, why was she worrying about something like a hat when she was in a situation like this? She pulled the hat tightly onto her head, that was simple, worrying about something simple prevented her from seeing the huge problems. For instance right now she was a nine year old, in the middle of a war she did not understand and she could still hear the guns ringing in her ears. As of yesterday she knew why these were suicide missions, since the General's demonstration. Right now she was slowly coming to realise the danger she was in and if she hadn't focused on something simple. Well she wasn't quite sure how she would get to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: I don't own HTF I might buy its non-union Mexican equivalent though._

Chapter 11: War March

Sonia finally looked up from her beret and began to walk, she tried to keep her gaze on the floor, after all no good could come from looking around. She just walked along a tightrope of ground in the centre of the room, a clear section of ground that was safe. She tried not to look to either side, tried not to think about what she knew was there. Bodies, corpses, just rotting piled high. A morbid reminder of what the general had done the previous day. A little demonstration he had said, a reminder of what happened to those who disobeyed orders he had said, just a little persuasion he had said. He had said too much to follow, standing there behind the firing squad with his grand speeches and his eye roaming across the ranks. The bodies were still here, some new, some rotted and decayed, others friends that Sonia would never see again.

But in the end she couldn't help it, just a glance at the lifeless face of a dead mouse on the left of the barracks, it's eyes staring out into space. Sonia had seen worse but still, it was horrible. She was alone in here, there was the rest of the unit but really she was isolated in a sort of emotional numbness, none of the rest of them understood why she didn't cry after the general's speech, why she seemed to just go along with it. If this had been a movie people would have called her strong, but in the harsh light of reality she was just as terrifying as the whole war. What kind of person wasn't afraid to die? What sort of nine year old just mutely accepted that people were dead? What kind of child claimed to have seen worse than death? One from Happy Tree Town, Lucy would have understood. Lucy would have...

But Lucy wasn't here, when the infantry had been sent out she had frozen at the thought of dying, she hadn't been able to obey orders and while the bullet meant for her had failed to kill her the chance of her full recovery was tiny.

Sonia was finally realising she supposed just how alone she truly was. Her friends couldn't help her here and... Her eyes drifted back to the mouse and she let out a strangled groan, Sonia sunk slowly to the floor. There was an hour before the rest got up, and when they did they would find a small green porcupine kneeling on the floor crying her eyes out. And many would realise something. Some would realise that she was just like them, that no one was much different. Some would come to realise the truth, and have their dreams crushed, to realise no one was coming, to realise no one could save them, to realise no one cared. Because if Sonia had learnt something from her book it was that people didn't help others, that in real life the only person who mattered was yourself. That to try and look after others when you couldn't look after yourself was insane.

... ...

In Happy Tree Forest Cuddles was rapidly coming to the same conclusion, stuck carrying the frozen Cro-Marmot yet again the rabbit had come to the conclusion that if his arms didn't fall off soon he would tear them off. This was what you got for caring. He groaned, taking another heavy step forwards. Why had he come this far, it wasn't like he cared that much about the people they were going to save, he had met a few of them once or twice, some of them he had even grown to like; but he was too childish they soon left him behind. No, he knew the reason he was going, it was a selfish reason he assumed. It was because he didn't want to see his friends sad and that was because he didn't want to be the shoulder they cried on, he didn't want to have to be responsible. He groaned, he was just a selfish guy going along for the ride. He just wanted to breeze through life without any of the consequences, maybe that was why he had come to Happy Tree Town. Maybe that was the reason he had never plucked up the courage to leave.

Maybe that was why he had got stuck carrying the caveman.

Nearer the front of the group the only tracker that was actually any good snuck forwards through the forest. Flippy bent over and felt the ground for a second. He raised his head and smiled, God this was nostalgic, hunting through forest and jungles following the enemy. For a second he could almost have imagined that he was back in the war, even now he wasn't really convinced it was over, how could it be over? The war had consumed his life, consumed his soul, broken his spirit; it couldn't be over and at last here was proof that he was right, that the war was still being fought. Here was what he needed to prove to the world that he wasn't unnecessary or insane. Here was what he had dreamt about, and he couldn't have hated it more if he'd tried. There was a time when Flippy would have killed everyone he knew just to get back to the war, but Sonia had changed all that, Sonia had given him something that the war couldn't have. It was... hope? No, hope of winning, hope of living, hope of getting to go home, he knew about hope. Love? No, love of victory, love of killing, love of war. Happiness? Responsibility? No, no, no! It was too hard to work it out now, let that wuss deal with the poetry and he would deal with the stuff that mattered. He frowned, his ear twitched and he slunk back to stand next to Handy, Pop and Flaky (who immediately flinched away from him).

"Someone's laughing at us."

Pop frowned, "I don't think this is a laughing matter and I highly doubt anyone up there," He motioned to the sky, "Is still watching us."

Flippy groaned, "No I mean literally, listen." He cocked his head for a second before smiling, "Hear that?" The rest shook their head, "Exactly, someone knows that we know they're here."

... ...

The world span slightly, it sort of tilted under his feet. It was like a fairground ride. Like a fairground ride. Like the teacups. Man, he could do with some tea, a can of tea. Candy, it all came back to candy, everything important did. Important, important, he'd been doing something important. What could have been so important? What would have been so important? What should have been... No, no, no, no this was getting him nowhere. He smiled lazily, leaning against a heavy coloured tree. Heavy coloured, like battlements, like a castle, like a tree... no that was a terrible metaphor, definitely a castle.

"Hello," Said one of people in the castle. "It's good to see you. Want some candy?" He smiled, man these people were pleasant, so much like him and...

"Snap out of it you moron." The blue splodge was talking again, swimming slightly infront of him, what was his name? Awesome? Excellent? Big-head? Yeah that was definitely it Big-head was talking to him, "What are you doing we need to follow them."

"Who?" The world span and he fell forwards sprawling on the ground.

"That deranged bear and the sheep. They're dangerous, it's obvious that everyone is being led into a trap and I, Splendid, must save them."

The squirrel on the floor grinned, "Not very splendid right now is it?"

Splendid face palmed, "Which way did they go?"

The squirrel laughed, in a slightly unnerving way, "Oh, we were meant to be following them, why didn't you say so?" He twisted to his feet, spinning like a drunken top and finishing pointing east, "They're over there." He smiled, wobbling off in that direction until he could see the group, proceeding along like an earthworm, like a snake, like a small group of adults heading off into unknown situations to confront a well-known enemy... Now that was a great metaphor, exactly what it said on the tin. Must have been a really big tin. Really, really, really, really, really... Candy.

He collapsed laughing, it all came back to candy, everything important. He'd been doing something important. What was it?

... ...

Across the world exist a breed of people who are, quite frankly, totally insane. They pride themselves on their ability to be able to dissect any part of the body in seconds and can tell you more about a person's life given ten seconds and a scalpel than they can in a thousand years of friendship. Most of these people sat back in asylums and prisons laughing to themselves and screaming. However in Gregor's unit these people came together on mass and those who were not insane to start with, soon had to be.

A small squirrel was currently trying to make that step. He stood, scalpel in hand staring down at the figure spread out on the table before him. The last night had been hell, living hell, he had never imagined that the other soldiers could have been so cruel. Especially that skunk, well until Gregor had broken his wrist after over hearing him mocking Toffee, the skunk was currently sedated. Toffee had been grateful, he'd been glad, until now. Now he just stood here, staring down at the figure on the table. A small marmot girl who, until recently had been wearing a thick winter coat, he shuddered, he knew her, even if only in passing and now. A tear dripped down his face. She wasn't dead, but she soon would be unless... Unless he did this. He stared down at the knife in his hands, turning it over in his fingers, if this was just a game he could... Yes pretend this was just a game, one of those games he had watched through windows all his life, one of those games other children had played while he chased after his father. Yes a game like that, they had always looked fun, an escape from reality, almost like...

He shook his head and looked back down at the girl, she wasn't even unconscious, that was the hard part, he could see her staring at him, trying to place a face to the blur of shapes she was obviously seeing, a lazy smile playing across her face. Still conscious but out of her senses. Sedatives were only for good soldiers apparently, the girl was just strapped down and drugged off her feet. He flinched just looking at the girl's smile, this person wouldn't have noticed if the roof had fallen on her, just like his father.

He put the scalpel down infront of him and bowed his head. Just like his father. That told him a lot about himself didn't it? Most people when faced with this situation wouldn't even be able to compare it to anything. What did he compare it to? His father. Yeah, that told him a lot.

He groaned, slumping into a seat just next to the table and looking up at his patient. He was glad he couldn't remember her name. If he had... He shuddered again and surveyed her wounds. Gunshot wound in her shoulder, broken bone, a lot else was wrong with that shoulder but Toffee wasn't a doctor, he wasn't trained. He shouldn't be doing this that much was clear. He sighed again, standing and crossing the room, he couldn't do this. But then- he turned his head back to look at the silent girl spread out on the table- if he didn't who would? If he didn't do something another innocent kid would die. As much as he would have liked to be Toffee couldn't get away from the fact that he was different, he knew how to be responsible and if someone died and he could have stopped it he would feel guilty. He crossed back across the room and slumped back into the chair, pushing his hands deep into his pockets. He smiled as he felt the familiar objects that crammed his coat rustle against his hands and frowned, what was he meant to do now? Well that much was obvious he supposed, if he was a medic he needed to help people. He frowned again, swore quietly and picked up the scalpel. If he was going to do this he would have to stop thinking. His cheeks felt wet and his vision blurred. The squirrel could hear chocking sobs and he realised with a jolt that he was crying, bawling his heart out while that marmot girl stared at him with a sort of intrigued mindlessness on her face. It wasn't like she was really aware right? She wouldn't hold a grudge against him. Heck, she probably wouldn't even remember this. Still he just couldn't think about this. Yeah don't think, just do it. His hand tightened around the knife until his knuckles turned white. That was always his problem, he thought too much, his brain buzzed away and told him all the reasons to not do what he had to do. He lowered his head and waited for his tears to stop flowing.

Slowly his sobs quietened, Toffee pulled his other hand out of his pocket and wiped his nose. When it came away he was smiling. The smile tugged at the corners of his mouth and he looked down, eyes now unfocused, at the girl infront of him.

"That's the trouble with over thinking. You always over think things." He smiled at his own ridiculous statement. It was so funny, it was all so funny that he started giggling, a coarse, slightly hysterical sound, quiet at first then louder and louder. Toffee raised the scalpel, his smile stretching into a manic grin. He could do this of course, he was invincible, nothing could touch him. Just don't think, just do it. He laughed and brought the knife spinning down.

... ...

Flaky slumped exhausted to the floor as soon the group stopped for rest, they had been walking for hours and while Flippy and Cuddles might have been capable of that Flaky wasn't, she wasn't a soldier, to tell the truth she wasn't even particularly fit. She looked out across the group with a sort of accepting hopelessness, it was obvious from a glance that they couldn't do this. Everyone should have realised that, what were they after all? A group of useless little people who died every day and were barely armed, up against a well-trained army. She sighed and began to crawl closer to where the others were setting up camp, Handy had set up a tent (somehow) and begun glaring at a pile of wood that he was unable to make into a fire. Petunia was curled up in another tent, out of her mind with panic, the forest was a far cry from the clean world she wanted, she seemed to have retreated into herself and just stopped. Flaky envied her so much, just to escape, even if it was into a nightmare, it had to be better than this.

Beyond them Cuddles had set Cro-marmot down as far from the fire as possible, the rabbit himself had slumped next to the cube, apparently asleep. Giggles had seen this apparently and had settled down next to the rabbit, who seemed unaware of her presence. Flaky frowned as she watched the chipmunk's absentminded face. How nice it would have been just to be disconnected from this, to have no stake in it, to be able to sit down and laugh and smile. She grimaced, why were they here if they had no connection to this? They must have been laughing at her panic, laughing at all their panic. She flinched, could she have thought that? No, she couldn't face that possibility. Flaky had to have one thing she wasn't afraid of. She needed to be unafraid of herself. It couldn't have been her... But then what? Brain-leeches, mind control or...

Flaky shook her head, get rid of the fear, expel the nightmare. She cast her eyes back over the group, now seeing everything as it really was, a danger, a nightmare, everything was trying to kill her. Why had she come out here? Why had she come with these people? Any one of them could get up in the night and kill her and... She shuddered, she knew well just how painful it was to feel your blood slide out of your body, to feel your organs stop one by one. She remembered that terrifying, intoxicating peace and tiredness that came just before her mind went blank and when she awoke... She remembered the pain.

The porcupine shuddered, tears began to drip from her eyes and she turned her head to look for someone, anyone, who might understand. Finally her eyes settled on her husband, she smiled. Flippy was terrifying, Flippy was a monster, but he was wonderful. She decided against standing and instead crawled towards the bear.

Flippy looked up when she got close, at first she smiled, but on seeing the look of confusion that crossed his face she frowned.

"Flippy, what's wrong?"

Flippy smiled, "Oh, I'm sorry it's nothing, I just had a dream and..." He stopped suddenly, a look of horror passing over his face. A second later though he seemed to regain his senses and turned to Flaky, "I-I'm fine. I j-just need..." He suddenly snapped into a businesslike manner, "Wait... Situation report, what's happening?"

Flaky smiled, as terrifying as they were she was used to her husband's occasional lapses, she could deal with them, "Um, this is... A rescue mission," She ventured, realising just how much safe she felt around her husband, "We're following one of the enemy generals to, erm, recover some citizens."

Flippy glanced up suspiciously, seemingly in worse condition than he had been in a second ago, "Who are you?"

Flaky smiled again, at least she knew the answer to that one and her fears were subsiding rapidly, maybe this time Flippy would be better, maybe this time she could make a better impression and then- maybe- sit down like the other couples and feel normal and feel safe. It had been so long since she had felt safe. "Someone you saved."

And then her dreams went up in smoke.

... ...

Flippy woke up blearily, real Flippy, finally. He supposed his other self must have grown tired and stopped to rest. Trust the soldier to only let him out when he was exhausted, or in pain. The soldier hated pain more than death, because pain endured and...

He looked up to see a porcupine crawling towards him, she looked tired, and terrified. He was hardly surprised, from what he could tell this camp was dingy at best, the dim light of what he supposed was a fire showed him nothing but mud and overgrown plants. It was depressing, just like every other camp he had been in.

Something was wrong though, Flippy scanned the area, the trees were too thick, the ground was too clear. This wasn't the jungle, how had he got here? He thought back- a forest. How much did he remember? A forest. A forest! Just like back home! After years he was back. Sonia would have loved this. Wait Sonia? Who was-

"Flippy, what's wrong?" He glanced up, that porcupine had reached him, she seemed to know him. She knew his name at least. That was good.

"Oh, I'm sorry it's nothing, I just had a dream and..." He tailed off. By the fire, two figures had slumped down. The larger rested on his side, making the wound in his back hideously visible, he held something up to the other, who smiled. An apple. The second had always liked apples, the mouse, K-. No! No name, as long as it had no name he didn't need to remember it, as long as it had no name he was safe. He blinked away the fear, he was a soldier damn it. He shook his head hard and tried to regain his smile. He couldn't look scared infront of... of... of anyone. "I-I'm fine. I j-just need... Wait... Situation report, what's happening?" The question just exploded out, he was sure the rest of the soldiers would laugh at that, he was meant to be in control.

"Um, this is... A rescue mission. We're following one of the enemy generals to, erm, recover some citizens." She seemed hesitant, he wasn't surprised, she obviously wasn't a soldier and she obviously wasn't trained, but he had no reason to doubt her.

"She's lying." The voice came from behind him, stretching the words in a sing-song sort of way.

Flippy frowned for a second, before looking up again, "Who are you?"

The porcupine's smile grew, "Someone you saved." The words sort of sang with joy.

"She's hiding something." The mouse's voice came again and Flippy blinked, the porcupine seemed lost in a pleasant daydream, she seemed oblivious but looking in her eyes there was no doubt.

... ...

"You're lying." The statement was flat, there was no reproach in it, but it shattered Flaky's dream. She flinched, surely he couldn't have said that. Flippy might sometimes forget her, but he always believed whatever story he was given so long as it featured the war, "You're lying." The words sunk into her soul like a knife, Flippy's glare was growing more angry.

She flinched again, her confidence blown away like dandelion seeds, "N-n-no, no... Flippy I, I," She was stuttering to much, "I'm telling the truth." It sounded pathetic.

"No!" Flippy was on his feet in a second, an incredibly large, sharp knife in his hand. Flaky was crying now, tears bursting from her eyes and rolling down her cheeks, dripping off her chin. "You're hiding something. What is it?" Flaky struggled backwards, stammering and blubbering. She knew just how painful that knife could be, she knew just how it would feel to have it slide through her ribs and... "Tell me!" His voice was just another scream along with her own.

She was mumbling now, some sort of apology, the small porcupine had raised her hands defensively above her head and seemed to be choking out every breath. Flippy stared down at her for a second, his face filled with anger. How dare she lie to him. How dare anyone lie to him. Didn't they know how important this war was? But then he stopped, she was just like a scared child he supposed, cowering and weeping, just like he had been. He wasn't the soldier, not really. They looked the same but... But his job was to protect people, not just mindless survival. His job was to protect the weak, and from where he was standing that porcupine was the weakest, most defenseless creature he had seen in a long time. Yes she'd lied, he could sort that out later. He lowered his knife an struck it into the ground at his feet. Then, somewhat mechanically, Flippy bent down and wrapped his arms around the sobbing porcupine. He held her somewhat awkwardly, doing his best to comfort her, until the small creature fell into a fitful sleep. It was what Flaky would have wanted him to do-

Wait, who?


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed and apologises for the wait.**

**Evil13Angel: I agree, on top of that I've seen your fics, so I know you can make your characters suffer. Also, yes there should be social workers, but would you want to take Flippy's child away from him?**

**Kenikitten: Again I hope my characters get your message, because someone really does need to kick some sense into them.**

**LouveAsha: Thanks for reading.**

**And Sfdgoz: I wondered when you'd get around to reading this, hopefully it won't be too slowly because I do appreciate your advice.**

**And I think that's everyone. If I've forgotten anyone please feel free to yell at me and I will send Flippy to have a **_**chat. **_

_Disclaimer: I do not own HTF or any other company, if I did I would make money that way and spend my time doing something else (like invading Switzerland)._

Chapter 12: The Darkness

Toffee groaned for what must have been the hundredth time in two hours. He had just been sitting here. He had just been watching the world continue around him, like nothing had happened. Nothing had happened right? He looked over at the girl. That shoulder was a mess of scars and cuts. But she wouldn't remember this right? As far as everyone else was concerned nothing had happened. He buried his head in his hands.

Something had happened though hadn't it? He alone knew that. Something had changed hadn't it? Things couldn't just reset so easily, at home people thought that you died then you came back and everything just went back to normal. Things didn't work like that though did they?

He stood up and stared down at the girl, unconscious at last. Well, at least she had stopped screaming. That should have made him feel bad. That would have made anyone feel bad wouldn't it? But Toffee had seen worse, heard worse. He should feel bad, but he just didn't, he didn't really feel anything. He looked down at the girls mangled shoulder again, that would leave quite a scar, he could have removed that bullet in one cut if he had concentrated. But still, said a little voice in his brain, you've seen worse, she'll get better. Except she wouldn't would she? He sighed again, how did he know?

"You won't tell anyone about this?" He frowned, talking to a sleeping person, he was brilliant wasn't he, "Look," He frowned again, "I'm sure you won't remember but..." He trailed off, he should have felt bad about this but...

He just felt empty. Toffee reached his hand into one of the pockets of his overcoat, pulling out one of the things that filled them to bursting. Just needed something to fill that empty feeling. He raised his hand and let the thing roll into his mouth. The squirrel smiled, leaning on the table heavily, grinning down at the girl. "Yeah, it'll all be fine." He laughed, "Everything will be just fine. Funniest thing anyone's ever said." The boy slumped onto the floor giggling, "You see, I know a little about life. Everyone lies, they say things are fine but..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of stuff, swallowing it. The next words were barely audible above the boys laughter, "We're all," He gasped for breath, tilting his head sideways, "Totally doomed."

When Toffee opened his eyes he didn't feel bad, just sort of empty. He liked empty he decided, empty made it bearable. Empty was good.

... ...

Flaky was running, running like all hell was on her tail. For all she knew it was, darkness, loud noises, something was behind her. Everything she was afraid of was bursting into her head. The wind screamed in her ears and tears streamed down her face. She couldn't run any further, she had only just started and she already had a stitch, the porcupine could barely breath. She fell forwards again, scrabbling on her hands and knees. Whatever was behind her was getting closer, she could hear it breathing, harsh, heavy breathing, and it's heavy footsteps pounding after her. It took her a minute to realise that that was the blood pumping in her ears, that that was her own breath. She gasped in relief, only to find the ground melting away beneath her. Before she could even scream she was sinking head first into what felt like concrete, it pooled around her, into her mouth, into her ears, into her nose. She scrambled frantically, but it was no use, the stuff was heavier than granite. It sucked her down, it rushed in around her and pounded at her sides, at her head, it was beating her with more fury than any storm and suddenly...

She couldn't see.

Couldn't hear.

Couldn't move.

Couldn't breath.

Couldn't feel. Couldn't blink. Couldn't think.

Every part of her was useless, useless, useless. Useless. Useless.

All. So. USELESS.

And she was more terrified than she had ever been before.

Then her eyes opened. She gasped for breath, realising that the air had returned. Her vision fluttered for a second, settling far too quickly. She blinked again, then smiled, all just a dream, she was safe now. Strange how it felt how the dream had gone on forever, chased by an unseen monster, how could she be so stupid. Flaky let the people who loved her most wrap their arms around her, she let herself get carried back away from the crushing fear of reality.

"Oh, did you have a nightmare dear?" He mother asked and Flaky nodded. Her mother, the only person that made her feel safe. She curled up in her arms and forgot all about her nightmares. This was almost too good to be true.

God please let this be real.

... ...

If hell was a place Sonia had found it. Sitting here on the dirt-covered floor she felt like the world had become too heavy, like the sky had caved in on her head, like no amount of simile or metaphor would ever make this moment bearable. She just sat here, crying into her hands, feeling tears drip down her sleeves and sobs shake her shoulders. Sat here feeling useless, unaware of the crowd of children that was slowly surrounding her, unaware of the rest of the world.

"Sonia!" The voice boomed into her ears, bursting the bubble she had drawn around herself, breaking the wall, smashing through every one of the visual images she had called up to isolate herself, "Sonia, what's wrong?" What's wrong indeed, everything. Everything was cold and dark and terrifying and she couldn't deal with it. "Are you okay?"

She looked up, Cub was staring down at her frowning, he obviously expected an answer. She lifted her hand, wiping the tears from her eyes, "Y-yes, I'm fine."

Fine! Why was she saying 'fine'! The world was falling apart, how could she be fine? She wasn't fine damn it! But whatever she had meant to say had gone, instead she kept talking, why was she still talking? "I was just tired. I'm fine now."

Cub grimaced, unconvinced, but he must have decided to give her the benefit of the doubt because the next second he smiled and turned away. Gone to talk to those idiots who thought that someone was still coming. Those people were optimistic morons, they could curl up and die for all she cared and... Wait, how could she think that, how could she even think something like that. For a moment Sonia was shocked. Then she began to stand, not shakily or slowly like she would have expect, self-assured and smoothly.

It was then she realised she couldn't feel her fingers. She couldn't feel her hands, or her arms, or her shoulders, or... She was completely numb. And she was smiling. She shouldn't be smiling, couldn't be smiling. She shouldn't even be standing. She wanted to scream, she needed to scream, she could feel it building inside of her like a huge tidal wave, about to explode. Why couldn't she scream? She was screaming silently, but it wasn't enough. She couldn't breath, she couldn't feel everything and then that voice in her head spoke.

"Don't worry dear," She could hear her father's voice in her ear, it should have been comforting, but he sounded like he was laughing, laughing at her pain and fear, "I'll deal with this. You just go to sleep."

So she slumped down there, begging every god she could think of just to let her scream. She watched her body walk to the door, she watched her hand open it. She looked out through her own eyes. But nothing had ever felt more far away in her entire life.

She wished she could just make herself cry.

... ...

Flaky was laughing, she couldn't remember the last time she had felt this happy. She was sitting on her mother's lap. Here, now, she could forget the dream, she knew that it couldn't be real. A world where you just came back to die again and again, it was terrifying, it was beyond terrifying, but it was also impossible. She knew that it wasn't going to come back to get her. She realised she wasn't scared here. Her mother was always a comfort.

"Look at the sky Flaky." Her voice was soft, calm, happy, "Look at that cloud there."

Flaky looked up. Up, the clouds swirled through a blue sky, boats, rabbits, flowers, they all danced through. She smiled again, her mother laughed. It was a perfect moment.

And then it passed, then reality came back. She was Flaky the porcupine, Flaky the girl that panicked if she spent a night away from home. The girl who cried when her mother wasn't able to call her at camp (she never went camping). She was the girl who panicked all the time, over everything. Now reality was back and she saw it all, those clouds. Thunder clouds, storms. Storms meant lightening, lightening meant death. Death meant pain. She shivered, curling herself into her mother's arms.

"Mummy, that cloud's scary."

Flaky's mother looked down at her, frowned, then wrapped her arms tighter around her daughter. The light seemed to go from the world in a second, all the joy of a second ago drained out. Her mother was as scared as she was Flaky realised, it was obvious, she could see her mother's hands shaking, see the fear in her eyes. She wondered vaguely why she had never seen it before. She curled up tighter, becoming a small spiked ball. They were both scared she realised, but as long as they were together she supposed, they were both safe.

She closed her eyes and just let herself drift into sleep.

Bad idea.

Flaky woke up shaking, not really sure what she had been dreaming about but scared out of her mind. It took her a second to realise that she was lying in her bed. She blinked a few times, blinked away the fear. It didn't work. She was beginning to cry she realised, she didn't know why, she just knew that whatever she had just dreamt was terrifying. She let out a loud sob, tears pouring down her cheeks again. Flaky the wimp, Flaky the panicker. She sobbed again. Then she felt a hand on hers, she looked up through watery eyes to see her mother sitting on the end of her bed, looking just as scared as she felt.

"Flaky, what's wrong?" The words were quiet, the fear behind them was obvious. What if Flaky was hurt? What if something had happened to her? What if... Flaky could almost see the thoughts pouring out of her mother's head.

Flaky swallowed her sobs and blinked away her tears as best she could, "I-I had a nightmare." Her voice wobbled as usual and her tears began again.

Flaky's mother just did her best to smile and leaned over to stroke Flaky's hair, "Well, nothing can get at you here sweety." She was smiling properly now, as if saying it dispelled her fears as much as her daughter's. She stood up and walked over to a chair by the door, sitting down and smiling at Flaky. Just like that chipmunk in her dream had. Flaky smiled, no matter how scared she was at least her mother was here. She closed her eyes. That made it all better.

... ...

Flaky woke far more calmly in the morning, unsure whether her mother's comforting had just been a dream. She looked out across her room, there was her mother curled up in the chair by the door. Not a dream then, for a minute she was thankful, she climbed carefully, avoiding all the creaky floor boards and splinters. Two steps to the left, one forward, three to the right, two forward, five to the left, one backwards... Getting up in the morning could take her up to an hour, but today she was almost skipping from board to board, taking a little leap over the last one. She didn't know why but today she felt over the moon. Today would be a good day, because today would be one of her mother's better days, she was sure of it.

Flaky's mother had good days and bad days, it was a fact of her life. On a good day her mother was perfect, the perfect parent, kind, funny and caring. On a good day Flaky's mother could face the outside world without fear and help her daughter get over her own phobias. On a bad day... Flaky stopped for a second sighing. Then she smiled again, today wouldn't be a bad day, Flaky may have been scared but she was sure of this.

Today had to be a good day, for her mother's sake, today was her mother's anniversary, ten years she thought... She couldn't really remember, she just knew that this had to be a good day.

Flaky finished dodging dangerous floorboards and walked over to her mother's chair, leaning over and hugging her. Her mother woke with a start and blinked the sleep out of her eyes. She tried to smile up at her daughter, but Flaky had already seen the look of terror in her eyes when she had woken up. This day was not looking good. She sighed and took her mother's hand.

"Are you okay mummy?" She watched as her mother stood, flinching away from the walls and letting out a small squeaking noise; but hearing Flaky's question the woman swallowed and nodded, "Are you sure?"

Her mother nodded again, looking slightly more sure, "Y-yes dear. I-I'll be fine." She flinched again, "I j-just need to- to think." She slumped back into the chair and curled up, Flaky reached out a hand to her but she just shied away.

The small porcupine bit her lip, she sighed, it looked like today wouldn't be a good day after all. She hugged her mother again and walked out of the room slowly, glancing back for a second. If this wouldn't be a good day she would make it one, she gripped her school satchel and stepped out of her room.

Flaky made herself breakfast as usual, avoiding the electrics, they were too dangerous her mother had said. By the time she had finished and gotten ready to leave her mother had plucked up the courage to leave the room and even came as far as the door.

"H-have a good day dear." She stood by the doorway, Flaky wished she'd come out, just one step over the threshold would have been proof of... of something. She hugged her mother again, secretly wishing she could be more brave as well, hoping that that might help her mother. Still, she could still make sure this was a good day. At least, she hoped she could.

... ...

The rest of the day sped by for Flaky, she stuttered her way through her classes, she panicked in her tests and ran out of time, but at least she had done one thing right she thought, clutching the flowers she had bought to her chest. Her mother loved flowers she remembered, one of the few things her mother wasn't scared of. This would cheer her mother up she was sure. She was sure this would make it a good day.

Her fears dispelled for a second Flaky even managed to start skipping down the road. A few seconds later she tripped, falling flat on her face. She winced, she should have listened to that little part of her that told her to be afraid to do that, at least that wouldn't have hurt so much... Or ruined her flowers. Flaky looked down, the stems were crushed, so were the petals, the flowers had been entirely pulverised. She bit her lip, this day couldn't possibly get worse. She pulled herself to her feet, took one look back at her present, then continued slowly down the road towards her house.

It wasn't until she turned the last corner to her house that she began to really worry. There was a small crowd gathered around her house, not enough to fill the road, but certainly enough to block it from the little girl's view and certainly more than her mother would have been comfortable with. Her mother was nervous around new people, it seemed irrelevant in such a strange scene, but it was all Flaky could think of. She started to run, her mother wouldn't want to be on her own in such a large crowd, she had to get through. Before she could get close however a large man stepped out of the crowd.

"Flaky, I want to talk to you." The large figure- an overweight dark grey anteater with long claws and heavy shaggy fur- reminded her of a doctor. The slow calm voice, like those doctors her mother had had to see, until she'd refused to leave the house. She flinched away, mumbling something, no good news had ever come from someone who sounded like that. But if the anteater noticed Flaky's terror, it didn't change his speech, "It's about your mother."

Flaky blinked, "What? What happened? Something's wrong isn't it?" Her mind span through a thousand morbid possibilities and the little porcupine began to quake slightly. The anteater groaned, placing a hand on Flaky's shoulder and kneeling down to look her in the eye.

"Your mother loved you Flaky, I'm sure of that." He frowned, "She was a good person but... I'm afraid she wasn't one to prepare. It's very unfortunate but she left no will so..."

Flaky wasn't listening any more she didn't really understand what he was saying, but she could tell he was avoiding saying something. He was lying, that meant he was trying to hurt her. She pulled away, running through the crowd yelling for her mother. The anteater frowned again, clambered to his feet with obvious difficulty and hurried after her, calling for her to stop. She ducked round people, under people, through people, any moment she'd be through, she'd see her house, her mother and everything would be okay. Except life didn't work like that.

The air smelt strange. It was thick and it hurt her throat, like when she had tried to help her mother with the cooking when she was younger. That wasn't a good sign, she knew it.

She should have been able to see her house by now, it should have been visible. Flaky could hear the anteater behind her, muttering some sort of apology and saying something to a man next to him about her father. She could see something infront of her but she wasn't quite sure what. She just knew three things. That her mother had been right, the universe was terrifying. That her house was no longer there.

And that there was no such thing as a good day.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Gunslingers-white-rose don't worry about it, I kind of like getting criticism as long as it's deserved (and I was starting to think that section was getting a bit long) I just like trying to see if I can write one of the staples of the fandom. Thank you to everyone else who reviewed as well. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

_Disclaimer: I don't own HTF. I soon will though._

Chapter 13: Dreaming

The day's that followed the death of Flaky's mother blurred into one. She sat through hours of meetings in a dusty, empty room, listening to the anteater talk about her family, her mother's few friends, every aspect of her life. She spent most of the time wrapped up in herself. Her mother had been right, about everything. She couldn't look around without almost yelping in fear, there was darkness in every corner. Every piece of glass could shatter. Then there was that glint in the anteater's eye, that was danger, that was mad. "What if" span through her brain, made her feel constantly sick.

And then she found herself standing on the edge of the forest, where her house used to be. She looked out, flinching, she couldn't believe that her mother could have gone so easily. Unless... Unless, unless. What had happened here she wondered. She was starting to sound like her mother. She caught sight of the burnt ruins, surely her mother would not have died that quickly, her mother wouldn't of left her. And then she was running, she was running from fear, from death, from everything. And then she was deep in the forest, speeding past trees, over roots, feeling tired, so, so tired. Hungry, exhausted, struggling with every step. Falling, crashing to the ground, wincing in pain, screaming out. Then she was terrified, mortified even, the light was so bright, so, so blinding, it was burning.

There was her mother, smiling down at her. Flaky smiled, her mother always made her safe, made everything better. Her mother was staring at the child, but something was wrong; that smile too wide, too thin. It was cruel, twisted and her mother's eyes glowed...

Bright green.

And then Flaky woke up screaming.

It took her a second to work out what was happening, the world was swimming infront of her, the ground moving and she was hovering above it. She was being carried on someone's shoulders, she realised with a jolt that it was Flippy. For a second she felt calmer, safe in his arms, then he spoke.

"Your awake?" He didn't even look round, but Flaky could tell that if he had his eyes would be green, "Good, you can't fight while your asleep."

Flaky shuddered, she struggled in his arms, but Flippy's grip was immensely powerful and she was still confused from sleep. Once again Flaky was amazed that this monster could be just another part of the wonderful man she married. "What's going on?" She finally managed to twist, rolling off his shoulder and falling to the ground with an audible crunch. She lay there whimpering, in a mass of broken quills, for a minute shivering slightly; then Flippy turned to her, with a growl that made her yelp.

"We are here because my daughter has gone!" Flippy's green eyes glinted and his face contorted in rage, "Now I am following some mad old general, who is doing God knows what. All because of you." Flippy's voice was raising in pitch, to the point where the group was slowly stopping to watch. Flaky was practically crying on the ground, she had never seen Flippy (not even his dark side) this angry, it was as if a hurricane was bearing down on her, "Because YOU couldn't look after her!" The knife appeared in Flippy's hand before Flaky had even seen him move. He lurched forward and she screwed her eyes shut.

The blow never came. Flaky opened one eye to see her husband, her real husband this time, reeling from a blow that had come from nowhere. Flippy's hand had been burnt and his knife had fallen at his feet. His eyes flickered back to green in a second though, he swore and span round to stare into the woods, around him there was chaos. People yelling out and jumping at shadows.

It was Pop who managed to make his voice heard above the din, "Where are those people who were following us?" He yelled over the crowd, his face noticeably distorted in anger.

Flippy turned away from the forest and gave him a savage sneer, "Oh, they're not behind us anymore..." He paused and darted off into the forest, "They're infront of us."

Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth Flippy had disappeared into the forest. Flaky suddenly realised just how much danger she must be in right now. For Flippy to take cover was... Unheard of.

She pulled herself up as best she could. She didn't have time to worry about a few broken quills right now, her fight or flight reflex was kicking in and right now all she could think was where she could run. She found herself heading back the way they had come, away from the people Flippy had mentioned.

As if on cue the undergrowth broke open, a blue flash of light shooting out of it, crashing against a rock and leaving Flippy flattened against it. He leapt back, with a heroic laugh, but Flaky was ignoring him, her fear for herself was for once over-powered by her fear for someone else. It finally struck her that, if Flippy died here, Flippy died forever, that would free her from his green eyed self, that would free her from her greatest terror. But at the same time that thought terrified her. So she just stood there, frozen between the green-eyed bear and the super powered squirrel, quaking and whimpering, just begging them both to stop.

"Please move ma'am," The squirrel's voice rang with confidence, "You are in danger and that evil-doer must be punished." Flaky gulped and shook her head, "Then I have no choice." The squirrel surged forwards, his fist raised.

Before Flaky could even close her eyes however he was smashed to the side with tremendous force. A shorter figure stood above Flaky and Flippy, swaying on his feet and smiling far too widely.

"Idiot!" The word practically came out as a laugh, "Moron! Monkey! Mouse-trap! No... that's not right." The figure giggled violently then drew another bolt- which was now glowing bright green- from somewhere and lunged at Splendid, who leapt out the way just in time, "What made you do that?" He was shaking with laughter again, "IDIOT!"

Splendid dodged the projectiles that were now being thrown at him, candy, bolts, even comic books. Ordinarily Splendid would have just avoided the attacks, but he seemed to be having difficulty with Nutty, he was actually trying to explain something as he deflected the completely ineffective attacks. The lime green squirrel however was in no mood to listen, he launched himself at Splendid, tripping over his own feet and taking a sort of swaying roll, and finished with his face only centimeters away from the superhero's. Splendid frowned, pushing the other squirrel out the way, he strode past him.

Unfortunately for Splendid's reputation Flippy had by this time calmed down, his eyes returning to their natural (or at least preferable) pac-man shape and was slumped by the rock. Flaky was knelt on the ground next to him, her broken spines and tears making it look for all the world as if she had been attacked. Splendid took in the scene for a second and grimaced, not his finest work.

Behind the blue squirrel Nutty pulled himself back to his feet, his constant smile still on his face, his eyes for once focused and glinting. He cracked his neck to the side and let out another insane giggle, twisting his body round in an odd little bow and sweeping both his arms round in circles, "Ladies and Gentlemen. Intro-ducing" He stretched the words, "Splendid. Super-hero, one-man demolitions squad and..." He paused for emphasis, before wobbling on his feet, widening his smile and apparently forgetting what he was saying. He giggled, pushing past everyone and to the centre of the group, "Well, lets be moving on."

He disappeared into the forest moving quickly on deceptively unbalanced feet. He was gone for a second, before staggering back onto the road laughing. "Where was I going? Something important... No, no, no. Something portant?" He giggled a little, ripping a chunk of candy out of his fur and dangling it above his mouth, he watched it for a second, closed his eyes and let go of the sweet. Before being blown off his feet into a pile of fur and saliva.

Splendid closed his hand around the candy and frowned, crushing it, "Your brain won't thank you for those Nutty, remember that?" He smiled, "Besides what would I tell your mother if you end up like you did last year again?"

Nutty grimaced and pulled himself to his feet, "Aren't lectures like this supposed to be our mother's job, not yours?"

Splendid laughed, "I promised to look after you didn't I?" He cast his eyes around at the bewildered looks he was getting from the crowd. He sighed and picked up a comic from the ground, "There, Splendid comic issue 1. All the exposition you need. Now can we please get a move on." He gestured at the unconscious Flippy, "I need to keep an eye on him and from the sound of you people a second ago you have somewhere to be."

So saying he turned round, lifting both Flippy and Nutty easily onto his shoulders (much to the latter's annoyance) and leapt into the air.

The group set off again, more cautiously this time. At the back Flaky tried her best work out what had just happened, it seemed they had finally realised what she had been saying all her life, the world was dangerous and the further from home you got the more dangerous it was. There were other things though, her dream, Flippy's out burst, everything that had just happened dragged up more and more questions. But it had at least told Flaky something, everyone here was dangerous, she couldn't trust any of them with Sonia. She had to find her daughter and then... What would she do than? The world was too dangerous for her precious little Sonia. She had died thousands of times already. Flaky could remember them all, she could remember the fear that this time her daughter wouldn't come back. She stopped for a second, tugging at one of her broken spines, was she meant to just shut herself away, to look out all the fear like she'd always done? That just made her useless. The same useless, selfish terrified little girl who had tripped carrying her mother's flowers. Then did she have to be brave? She realised she had stopped, she saw the distance between her and the group and suddenly it seemed like a thousand miles. She couldn't be brave, she was useless, pathetic. But then what was she meant to do?

... ...

Sonia's eyes opened at last, she didn't know when it had happened. How had she got into such a mess? She tried to sit up, but before she could a sharp pain tore through her head and she fell back down. Sometime yesterday- was it yesterday? For all she knew it could have been weeks, years ago, it certainly felt like years. Well anyway, sometime ago after she had lost control something had happened; one second she had been staring out of her own eyes, silently screaming and trying to gain even the smallest grip on her mind. The next, her screams had come bursting from her, she had found herself lying in the middle of a pleasant green meadow. After a few minutes, which seemed like an eternity, her screams died down in her throat enough for her to look around. The valley looked familiar for some reason, something about it was awfully, awfully wrong. The way the leaves rustled in the wind, the way the birds whistled, the animals moving beautifully in the distance. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong! She found herself wanting to scream at the sky again, but her mouth was so sore from her previous outburst. She needed water she realised, she had no idea what was happening, but she knew that she was massively thirsty. She tried to stand, but slumped to the ground. Crawl then, definitely crawl.

She reached one hand out and gripped the ground infront of her. Her arm had never felt so heavy. She was sure that moving had been easier a second ago, before she had decided to move, it was as if the world had suddenly fallen in on her. She gasped, she was already exhausted and now she really need water, but somehow she reached a small stream. It just seemed to jump out of the meadow, exactly when she needed it. She laughed with relief and reached down to the water.

Which pulled away from her. She should have been surprised she assumed, instead she was angry, she was so, so angry. She growled and lashed out at the water, only to have it slip away from her, grazing her hand on the hard ground. She winced and tried to pull her hand out of the mud, but it stuck. The water flowed back over her hand, soaking her fur, taunting her, mocking her. She was so angry and so thirsty; it was a struggle to even lift her hand again, but she did it, she did just to plunge her hand at the water, to show it that she was more powerful than any force of nature, to vent her frustration on it. She lashed out again and again, until she could barely raise her head, her tongue was dry, her head felt like it had been put through a blender, her brain was crying out for, for... for something.

She just needed something, something that would help her think. She lowered her head down, expecting the water to slip away again, but this time it just seemed to stay, as if it knew she had given in. Her lips touched the water and she smiled, just a sip would be enough. Then, before she could swallow a drop, something gripped the back of her head, right at the top where her quills bunched together; something strong, with an iron grip. She struggled and screamed, using the last of her strength to struggle and flail. She could feel whatever had her hair was pushing down. She could feel water filling her mouth, filling her nose, she was sure it was spilling into her lungs. She tried to scream, but all the energy was gone from her. Water, water was everywhere, it was all she could see, all there was to breath, she couldn't breath. She couldn't breath! She finally managed to let out another scream.

Then whatever had gripped her was gone. The water fled back and she gasped for breath, swallowing as much of the water in her mouth as she could, but spew out most of it with a gasp. She lay there for a second, all thoughts of thirst gone.

Finally she opened her eyes, she didn't know when it had happened. How had she got into such a mess? She tried to sit up, but before she could another sharp pain tore through her head and she fell back down. She finally gave up thinking and just settled with turning over.

To see the wall of glass towering above her.

... ...

General Lupus had drawn his bodyguard into line more than an hour ago, Sander could see that just by looking around. The _specialized _troops looked exhausted, hardly able to stand by the time the infantry was drawn up. Sander just had to cast her eyes over them and she could see the look of fear and exhaustion, the same look her brother had, on every face... Except one. She shuddered slightly. Sonia was standing near the front of the ranks, smiling... Something was unnerving about that, those green eyes seemed to be familiar somehow. Terrifying. Sander automatically pulled her brother closer to her, trying to work out if she needed to reach for the knife in her boot; Sonia was her friend, she wouldn't hurt Stanley, but still, there was that smile. That smile was danger.

Sonia wasn't looking their way though, the green porcupine was staring past the general, standing to attention as if she stood like that all the time. She looked just like all the proper soldiers Sander had seen throughout the camp. It was unnerving to see someone you knew like that. The skunk's skin crawled and she glanced down at her brother to check he was still... Safe, alive, even just there.

Stanley stood infront of her, safely trapped in his own terror, his arms wrapped around his older sister. It struck Sander then just how fragile the little boy looked, he was one of the smallest children in the crowd despite being nine and looked so vulnerable curled up and whimpering.

"Attention!" The commander's voice flooded across parade ground and some reflex caused the majority of the children to obey. They all knew better than to get on Lupus' bad side. Instead of stepping forwards as usual though the massive wolf clicked to attention, apparently waiting for something.

After giving just enough time for the children's legs to start aching and Lupus to start sweating a figure stepped from the shadows. Even from her position in the middle rows Sander could see the smartly arranged black uniform, the glint of metal on medals and his right hand. The sharp, gleaming teeth that made up that smile. That horrible smile that left no doubt that he was in command, that he had ordered and had done awful, unforgivable things. The smile that told everyone that he didn't care.

Sander found herself shaking, just to know that man was near her, to know that the general of this army was staring directly at her, directly into her soul. It made her sick, it made her want to vomit; the man's merciless blue eye crossed the troops once and settled staring right at Stanley.

That monster. Sander felt her heart jumping up into her throat, she called all the worst words she could think of to mind and mentally hurled them at the general. If he so much as touched her brother she'd... she'd. Except she wouldn't, she only had to look in that eye to know she couldn't do anything, that she was too scared. This was her father's job, she just stood in the background and clutched her mother and brother close and cried while he dealt with everything. She was shaking violently now she realised, her breath coming in sharp, gasping bursts, it was all she could do to stay on her feet.

Then, thankfully, the general looked away, raising his metal claw and twisting it round, he looked down at the children and spoke.

"Children, how good to see you." The huge tiger's smile widened, "It's good to know that people are still willing to fight for our cause." He paused for effect, "To die for our cause." He took a step closer to the children, "I think it is best for you to know that you will never see home again is it not? I think you would all agree it is best if you do not see home again." He laughed taking another step forwards. His accent had already struck Sander, but it still came as a surprise when he turned and barked out an order to Lupus in another language. Lupus' reply was obviously extremely carefully planned, but the general still frowned. "Oh dear, that will not do commander." He flexed his claw and took another step forwards, "Surely you do not mean to tell me that this is all of them." He made a theatric gesture and continued, but Sander had already stopped listening.

All of them? But this was less than half of the children that had been lined up on the first day, only a third of the children who had cried were here. This couldn't be all of them, couldn't, Where were the rest? Then she looked up at the general and what should have been obvious came crashing down on her, that couldn't be true. God this was... She hugged Stanley close, swaying slightly on her feet, this was so impossible, so sick. The skunk closed her eyes and slumped forwards unconscious, this was just more than any child could handle.

... ...

Gregor lurched out of the tent as the general began his speech. The Tiger General commanded a certain amount of respect, even from the medical commander. Gregor's eyes glanced in different directions across the crowds, but finally settled on something much closer to him. The new recruit, Toffee was leaning against one of tent supports, grimacing out at whatever was going on in parade ground. Gregor cleared his throat but the squirrel didn't turn, he was watching a group of children in the line, his eyes flitting forwards and backwards between them. A skunk who seemed to have fainted, a smaller skunk with terror in his eyes. Finally, Gregor smiled, a green porcupine, the interesting case as he had put it, she stood at the front with a grim sort of smile on his face.

The tiger general seemed to have noticed her too, he stepped forwards smiling dangerously and leaned forwards to say something. The porcupine didn't flinch, which surprised Gregor, where had that little girl who screamed when he glared at her gone? It was too late to worry about that though, if he had been interested in her he should have saved her as it were. He turned his attention back to the recruits, where the tiger general had straightened up again, he smiled at the porcupine, turned away, before casually striking the girl with a flick of his wrist. She stumbled, falling into the person next to her and being pushed back to her feet, where she wobbled and collapsed, all trace of calm gone.

Toffee flinched slightly, watching just long enough to see the general turn and continue his speech, before turning to Gregor. The beaver noticed for the first time the blank look on the boys face.

"If you wanted to say goodbye to any of those kids, boy, you'd better do it now." Toffee looked up as Gregor spoke, before nodding silently, tugging at the neck of his coat and walking past the commander without the slightest trace of emotion. But Gregor had seen enough, he had seen the boy's red puffy eyes, he had seen the boy flinch and he couldn't shake a disturbing feeling. Gregor had never doubted that they had to win, God knows he had lost enough in this damn war. That's why victory had to be assured. But this... The commander pulled his coat closer to himself and lurched his way back into the medical bay. He yelled orders left right and centre, his tail smashing heavily on the floor, cracking boards.

He approached the skunk who acted as his second in command, the thin skunk that Toffee had noticed on his first day with the overly large head. The soldier saluted but Gregor just growled, bringing his hand up and gripping the animal by the neck, lifting him into the air.

"What did you do?" He brought his head forward and yelled at the skunk, who gasped and gripped at Gregor's hand, trying in vain to shift the large fingers.

"W-what are you talking about sir?" His voice came across quietly.

"To the recruit! To that kid." Gregor's rage was making his hand tighten, threatening to snap the skunk's neck.

"Nothing sir." Gregor smashed his free hand against a table. The skunk licked his lips with a thin pale tongue and reconsidered his answer, "We tossed him around a bit sure, but nothing major, nothing more than we did to the others."

Gregor laughed, it sounded as if something were thrashing around inside his chest, he released the skunk, who fell heavily to the ground, and turned away. "You're a psychopath Dale, next time I really will have to snap your neck." He grimaced, that had made him feel better about the boy, knowing that Dale wouldn't dare to touch him for a while, but still he could shake that feeling.

This was insane.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Once again thank you to everyone for the kind reviews, it's nice to know that people enjoy reading my stories. As I said before I've run out of pre-prepared chapters so there might be a wait for this one, I apologise in advance.**

_Disclaimer: I still don't own HTF. I do own the letter 'e' though, feel free to send royalties._

Chapter 14: First Mission

Dirt. Dirt was everywhere. Sitting in the corners, crawling up the walls, infesting everything, everything. Climbing, twitching, writhing, whispering, breathing, creeping, infecting, swarming, slithering, screaming at her. Screaming and screaming and...

No. Calm down, breathe, keep breathing. It can't hurt you, nothing can hurt you while he's here. Breathe, breathe, don't panic and breathe. Go through the motions, that will make it okay, it always makes it okay, the only thing... Just don't look at it, don't think about it. Concentrate on breathing and breathing.

Breathing and writhing and squirming and seeking and crawling over and over themselves and... She could see them, hear them, smell them, she could feel them pressing in all around her. Crawling from every piece of dust and dirt and everything that was just that speck out of place. Everyone else must have been blind not to see them, they were so loud, so grotesque, so... so there. They were there every morning when she woke up and they stayed, every second, everywhere, creeping in and swarmed around her, swarmed inside her, whispered in her ear. When she closed her eyes, covered her ears, blocked out everything they were still there, writhing and twisting inside her head, slithering through behind her eyes, making her go crazy. They just kept on whispering, whispering, whispering. Whispering so loud, louder and louder and... Why wouldn't they just shut up? Shut up! Shut up!

"SHUT UP!"

It took her a minute to realise that she must have yelled the last words aloud because suddenly they were gone, swimming out of her head and back into insanity. She could have laughed in relief. She would have but everything seemed to be getting stuck in her throat. It took her another minute to realise her eyes were squeezed tightly closed. She inched them open.

And instantly... Crawling, scuttling, twisting, ripping, thrashing around in her mind. Making everything she saw hell. A sea, an ocean of grime swam infront of her eyes, a wave that flooded over her, got inside her head. The voices were yelling now, screaming, there had to be order, had to be or they would never go, everything had to be done the right way or they would never go, the right way had to repeat itself over and over and over and over. Arrgh, Petunia screwed her eyes closed again, it wasn't real, it wasn't real, everyone kept telling her that none of this was real. But they were wrong weren't they? If she opened her eyes now she'd just be met with the ocean of grime. Nothing would stop it or the voices in her head, which were currently blocking out everything, her name, her memories, everything except those two children. The boy and girl in the hard hats that seemed to be flitting in and out of her nightmares, the two loudest voices that wouldn't shut up, they just kept on going louder and louder. Telling her she was a failure, a monster, she clamped her hands over her ears forcing her eyes back open. Why couldn't they just leave her alone? They weren't even real, she couldn't even remember their names. Why couldn't they just...

But they wouldn't leave would they? No matter what she did they'd always be there, whispering inside her head and she would feel happy without knowing why and then, one speck of dust and... They would. Never. Leave. Her. Alone.

She found herself gripping for whatever was infront of her, her attention directed entirely at the dirt around her, her eyes wide and panicked. She was sitting bolt upright, trying to regain composure, or at the very least to scream, but the sounds caught in her throat again, balling themselves up and chocking her. Tears coursed down her cheeks, matting her fur, splashing onto the floor, just making it all so much messier, so much worse. Now her eyes were finally coming back to reality, staring intently at a dull brown tent wall, desperately trying to keep her breathing under control. She failed, falling forwards chocking out more tears and a sort of gasping squeal.

Within a second of the sound escaping her lips there was movement next to her, a small brown beaver sat up with a jolt, looking straight at her with a look of shock. There was something important about him, she knew that, but not as important as being clean. Nothing was more important than cleanliness though was it? Everything was about wiping them away, about getting out of her head and off every inch of her body. The beaver was still moving though, raising his arm. Something was wrong with that. His arms ended in stumps. Bandaged stumps, she could just imagine the amount of blood that had... Then the voices were back, whooping, chattering, laughing inside her and she... She was screaming, screaming and screaming. Gripping the tent wall infront of her so tightly that her knuckles turned white, screaming, thrashing, balling the canvas up and stuffing it into her mouth to muffle her terror, wishing she could go back to that sweet nightmare she had been having. Tears streaming down her face, shaking and trembling. And all the while the voices in her head kept on whispering and whispering. Whispering, whispering whispering.

And dirt. Dirt was everywhere

... ...

Sonia sat exhausted on the ground and opened her book, scanning the words she'd read hundreds of times. She was amazed that she had managed to hold onto it for so long to be honest. She had run, she had panicked, tripped and fallen, but still she had kept her book safe. It felt wonderful now just to sit here and to leaf through it, even if it told her nothing except that she was loved and really what good was that? What good had that ever done her father? She could remember that thing that had carved into those two raccoons, and then she'd remember that that was her father, did she really want to be loved by someone like that?

She sighed, how could she expect to answer all these questions now? This was all growing far, far too complicated. She resigned herself to flicking through her book again, trying to find some sort of secret code that might help, trying to understand the text that had looked like just scrawl before. She was getting better at understanding it now, but that hardly helped, to read through countless pages of threats insults and cruelty. For some reason it made her so angry just to read them, even knowing who had written them. She felt more angry with every word, even the words that usually brought her comfort. How dare someone write this. How dare someone peer into her soul and write this. She felt the urge to throw the book away, to get that piece of garbage away from her. But for one reason or another her hand remained firmly locked around the book. A flash of green crossed her vision and she screamed.

"Snap out of it soldier." A shout jolted Sonia back to reality, she looked up to see a large blue rat staring at her, he was their new captain, apparently. So far though Sonia had only heard him referred to as 'some lackey that Lupus dredged up', he seemed quite nice though, at least he hadn't come at anyone with a knife yet. So against the alternatives he was probably the best that any of the children could hope for.

The rat looked over the children for a second, flicked his tail for a second as the tiniest bit of doubt passed over his face, he cleared his throat and began a speech that had obviously been practiced over and over in a mirror.

"I am not going to lie to you recruits." His voice seemed to be shaking just a bit, Sonia found herself smiling at that, she didn't know why but it was so amusing, he was scared. "You are my unit, it is my job to make sure that as few of you die as possible." His tail flicked again, opening his mouth to speak again. However, before he could make his prepared speech Commander Lupus has pushed passed him, growling slightly.

"Soldiers, attention! Welcome to your first mission," He gave another wolfish-smile, "I'm not going to lie, only about five percent of our recruits come back... and this mission won't be easy. So you are all going to shut up, march and do whatever I say." His smile widened and he glanced back at the captain, "If I tell you to jump off a cliff you will. Is that understood!"

The recruits and the rat all mumbled that it was. But something about it made Sonia angry, so angry and so scared. How could someone say that? She couldn't die. Wouldn't die. Even if she would have come back how dare anyone expect her to die. Her hands tightened around the book again and a flash of green passed over her eyes, making her world spin slightly then...

"Sonia!" The voice snapped her back to reality again, her world settled and she was looking up at Cub's worried face again, for a second she could have almost been back home, her parents had gone out and left Cub to look after her again. That was right wasn't it? All of the war, the soldiers, the voices in her head, all just nightmares.

"_Of course not you moron." _The voice inside her mind silenced any happy fantasies Sonia might have had. Crushing them all into dust, yes Cub was looking down at her. But he was wearing his army uniform. This wasn't home it was the forest. The voice in her head laughed.

"_Idiot, if you'd wanted to dream you should have stayed asleep."_

"Get out of my head." What should have been a yell came out of Sonia's mouth as little more that a breath, pathetic. Still, pathetic. But Cub must have heard her, the look of fear on his face broke in to a smile.

"Good to see your awake," He laughed, "Have any good dreams? 'Cause right now I think I could do with one." He smiled again, but it looked far more forced than the first. Sonia pushed herself up to sitting again and tried to stop her head from spinning.

"W-What happened?" She stuttered, trying to regain any semblance of balance.

"You cracked." Cub obviously saw the confused look that spread across Sonia's face, he reached out and placed a hand on her head. Patting it, apparently forgetting how much she hated that. He also seemed to forget who he was comforting because a second later he jerked back, with a small quill in his paw. Sonia might have found that funny at any other time, she'd always known that Cub was clumsy (he'd got himself killed countless times) but it brought back memories of, of... Well she wasn't sure, she might have said something like _a happier time, _but if that was true why did thinking about it make a lump form in her throat, make it so hard to breathe, make her terrified that she would never see home again.

She pushed the feelings down. Swallow the fear, all you need to do is survive, fear won't help you survive, not now at least. She tried to work out the mess of thoughts whipping around her head and found only confusion. "What do you mean _cracked_?"

Cub frowned, looking up from his wounded paw for second as if he had only just remembered she was there, "You started sort of..." He paused, searching for a word, "Staring, just staring with this really, um, well, psychotic look on your face and then you, well you collapsed and... Well the only word for it is cracked." He frowned, shuddering at whatever memory that had invaded his head, "It was a bit like your father."

In Sonia's mind she could see the image, the flash of green, the joyous laughter as he ripped people to shreds, she shook her head to dispel the picture. Then looked down at the ground, trying to reclaim that sense of neutral of separation from reality she had had before the voice had started in her head. Even the exploding anger she had felt a second ago would have been welcome. Instead she just felt terrified.

She'd only ever felt this scared once in her life. When she was very young, young enough for her memories to be only a blur, there had been a thunder storm. She couldn't remember why but her parents had been away and she had been so scared. She had curled up under her bed, cried and covered her ears. It might have seemed clichéd but back then it had seemed so loud, screaming in her head and Cub had come and sat with her, somehow she remembered that had made it all better. She felt like that now, the voice in her head was so loud, she was so scared, but Cub was there again, like a big brother, and at least this once he made that voice quieter. He just smiled nervously and watched her.

Cub was normally so lazy and irresponsible, but right now Sonia could only have been more glad if her parents had been there and as for her book. She looked down at the book that had made her so furious earlier. Now it only made her remember just how alone they were.

But nothing to be angry about, after all it was just a book.

She opened it again, and suddenly all of Cub's kindness, all of the kindness in the world couldn't cover the loneliness. Sonia put her head in her arms, a wave of fear washing over her again. She covered her ears again, the green-eyed thing in her head blocking out Cub's words, the army, everything. The green porcupine just blocked out reality and silently prayed to anyone who would listen that her parents would fine her.

... ...

In another, totally unremarkable part of the forest Cuddles had begun to feel that this was as close to hell as he had ever been. Sitting by an almost non-existent fire surveying the veritable buffet of creature misery around him. On the one side Petunia held her head in her hands and silently shook, her husband holding her as close as he could, looking exhausted and furious. On Cuddles' other side, well he preferred not to look that way, Cro-marmot glared out of the shadows at the very edges of the fire. Infront of him Flaky seemed to have become just a curled up mass of quills, dandruff and fear. Flippy however did not seem nearly so supportive as Handy; instead he was only glancing warily at Flaky from time to time usually just talking to something that only he could see.

Behind Cuddles though was the part he was most worried about; not Giggles, the girl who was usually the source of most of his concern or attention seemed to be taking the disaster far better than he had and was currently trying to keep the meager fire alight. No, behind her were the people he was truly worried about, a glance back and there they were, behind a veil of smoke and shadows.

A little lamb in a woolen jumper sat against a warped tree, her voice alternating between sobs and whispered words, just too quiet to catch, but keeping her lips moving all the time and playing havoc with his nerves. The lamb couldn't have been much older than he was, probably younger and in her hand was a butchers knife; that was the thing Cuddles couldn't take his eye off, he kept on watching her out of the corner of his eyes as she twisted it in her hands, muttering, before bringing it slicing upwards towards her own neck. The lamb let out a startled cry as the knife stopped just before it cut her skin, she seemed for a second to be trying to force her own hand away from her, until she finally wrested the knife from her right hand into her left, muttering again before bringing the knife slashing down towards her stomach. Muttering, slashing and crying the lamb had been sitting there all night, just repeating the action over and over again and glancing up occasionally, a look of pleading fear on her face. That had made Cuddles shiver, it wasn't that she was staring at him, she wasn't, she was staring instead at a small pickle that she had placed on the ground infront of her, for some reason that was just-

"Creepy," The voice almost made Cuddles scream, he whipped around to see the lime green figure of Nutty leaning over him, his spine bending at an incredibly odd angle, "Crawly," The candy-addict continued, raising what appeared to be a millipede in his hands, "Squirmy, twitchy and above all," The squirrel snapped his head back, twisting his entire body around so that his open mouth was under his hand, he paused for a second, "Or is it under all?" His smile widened and he released the bug to drop straight into his mouth, chewing, twisting to his feet then swaying, "Definitely under, nothing like candy..."

The squirrel stumbled one last time, before falling face first onto Cuddles, who yelped and pushed him off. But the squirrel had said it, there wasn't one person here (with the exception of Giggles) that he would want to spend a minute with, he would rather just have left them all out here if it weren't for Giggles and the children that needed saving. It wasn't something he wanted to admit but he... He couldn't quite put into words how he felt.

Just maybe he was scared, and angry, and confused, and... too many other things. Maybe he shouldn't have been thinking any of this, maybe he should just shut up and pretend to be on everyone's side like he always did. Once again Cuddles found himself wondering whether maybe he did deserve to be carrying the caveman.

And then he felt the knife at his neck.

"Let your guard down did you? That's a shame isn't it?" A eerily calm voice whispered from over his shoulder, "Are you going to die now? Oh dear, what would your mother think?"


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Thanks once again to everyone who's reviewed, I'm not quite sure how quickly this chapter will get up but thank you for waiting and I am really glad you all reviewed since it's mainly reviews that keep me writing. **

_Disclaimer: I don't think I own HTF, then again I might be wrong so feel free to send me money._

Chapter 15: Fear

The fact that Cuddles couldn't see the speaker behind him did not make him feel confident. He twisted his head this way and that in the firelight but whoever was just slipped out of the edge of his vision and laughed.

"Haven't you ever heard of 'no peeking'? What would your mother think?" The voice slipped over the words quietly, lightly. Under any other circumstances Cuddles might have found it reassuring, if slightly unusual. But right now, with almost unbearable calmness and nothing to attach it to but a knife, that voice was one of the most terrifying things Cuddles had ever heard. He found himself going cross-eyed in his attempt to watch the gleaming butcher's knife at his throat and trying to shake as little as possible. He knew from repeat experience that the last thing you did when you had a knife at your throat was look terrified, or act cocky.

Obviously one of his friends hadn't had those experiences because, even before most of the others could react, the ground infront of Cuddles became an explosion of shards and soil as something blue rocketed into it, making a small impact crater. Before whoever held Cuddles could react to this entrance however a blue fist flashed past Cuddles' field of vision and smashed into something behind him with an ominous breaking sound.

Whatever hand had been holding Cuddles drew back suddenly, the knife slipped from the attacker's grip and clattered to the ground. The voice however somehow managed to remain the same.

A laugh that anywhere else would have sounded good-natured and kind rang out, "Hurt your nose have we little lamb? Does it hurt? Dear, oh dear, what would your mother think?" The speaker sighed and then suddenly switched, collapsing into terrified whimpers as Splendid dashed past Cuddles and sent a kick powering into the would-be-murderer's stomach.

Through all this time Cuddles just stood there, trying to make sense of what was going on, his eyes glanced forwards and back between the knife at his feet and the others, who by now had just stood back to let what must have been quite a one-sided fight play out behind him. He could hear some one practically crying out apologies behind him, lingering on the a's a bit. He could see the knife at his feet, its sharp edge gleaming in the firelight. He could smell the smoke wafting on the air, but somehow none of these images would go together, they wouldn't connect with the world a few seconds ago, where he had just been sitting by the fire thinking about himself. Maybe it was because he felt so tired, maybe they had been marching too long, he might think more easily after he'd got some sleep. Cuddles had just enough time to decide that someone else was definitely going to carry the caveman next time when his knees gave way and he collapsed, unconscious.

... ...

The fight between Splendid and Cuddles' attacker meanwhile was exactly as one sided as he predicted, maybe a little more. The assailant tried to attack, Splendid ignored them then punched them in the jaw. Splendid feigned a move, the opponent fell for it. Really he didn't need tricks to win this, just to make it more interesting. He ducked to the left, hovered in the air slightly, and brought his foot up into the small enemies face. To be honest that was what had thrown him off for the first few seconds against this person, the size. If there were two types of people Splendid didn't feel comfortable fighting it was women and children. Unfortunately this person fitted both categories, if they hadn't they wouldn't still be standing. But he was getting past that now, getting into his element. His foot came up again into the small lambs stomach and she fell to her knees with a gasping sob. Why wouldn't she stop crying? This would be so much easier if she would just stop sniveling like a baby, it made him feel like a bad guy. He brought his fist down into the girl's head, smashing her down to a crumpled quaking heap. He smiled slightly, it was moments like these where he could just forget about how cruel people could be, right now it was just him and the villain and everyone loved him. He lowered his eyes to the little lamb, he'd always known that there was something evil about her, it was instinct and his instinct was always right. He could feel the heat inside his head, could feel it building up behind his eyes, the power stretching out into the air around him, to freedom. He allowed himself a small smile this power was so fun and the best thing was there was no blood, it would be relatively painless... Well, he _assumed _it would be relatively painless, he had no real way of knowing, but at least it would be quick and clean. He tilted his head back and worked on narrowing his aim, no use in needless death. He tilted his head down and...

A fist collided with Splendid's face, he didn't flinch but his eyes released the power they had been storing, incinerating a nearby tree. He blinked, then turned to his new opponent.

"You need to grow up." The words caught Splendid by surprise, especially coming from Nutty, the green squirrel looked like he could barely stand, wobbling with only his good eye focused on Splendid. The candy addict frowned, then collapsed onto Splendid, leaning heavily on him. Splendid sighed and stepped back, letting the creature fall to the ground.

"That's why I'm the responsible one," He glared down at Nutty for a second before turning back to the lamb, he stared at her for a second then turned back to the other squirrel, "But then again you are older, that must count for something." He set himself down to sit next to the other squirrel, "Why do you always have to make everything so complicated?"

Splendid and Nutty sat (and lay) in silence for a second before a quiet voice broke through, "Having a tender moment are we? Should I feel sentimental? What would your mother think?" Before the lamb could raise her bleeding, cross-eyed, swollen face, Splendid's hand had shot out and gripped her neck with massive strength. He frowned, almost lazily and lifted the lamb upwards until only her tiptoes rested on the ground; he watched her with what could almost be mistaken for sadness as the little lamb choked and blubbered, her words getting lost somewhere between her lungs and her bloody, battered face. The girl fumbled desperately with a small pickle that she held as close to her heart as she could, but her hands were slowly slipping closer and closer to the ground, her grip on her precious pickle loosening every second.

Then Splendid heard a click, not loud, but the sort of click that meant something very dangerous had just been loaded and was pointing directly at your head, he slightly released his grip on the girl- letting her breathe but not fall- tilting his head to the side to watch the crossbow bolt that rested just next to his ear. Not that it could kill him but, he grimaced, it would hurt, it always did. God, why did Nutty always have to make everything so difficult? He sighed, looking down at the other squirrel, who still lay flat on his back giggling, his arm seemingly independent as it held up the unsteady crossbow. "Why do you always do this Nutty, you can't just make anything simple."

Nutty let out a slurred laugh and mumbled something about candy but kept his bow trained on Splendid, who just sighed and dropped the lamb back on to the ground. As an after thought he shot out his hand, wrenching the pickle from the girl's grip and, oblivious to the panicked screams this raised from the girl, crushed it with no effort whatsoever. Finally he glanced back down at the lamb, it was now he realised just how small and helpless she looked, with blood running down her tiny shaking body and god knows how many broken bones Splendid couldn't help but feel slightly bad for Lammy as she slowly slipped into unconsciousness. He turned back to Nutty.

"Thanks, I suppose I wasn't thinking."

Nutty laughed, his eyes strangely clear, "Thinking never was your strong suit, neither was diamonds, or hearts, or..." Splendid hit him, "Argh, just put it down to brotherly love. Now if you'll excuse me." Nutty promptly fainted, whether from the punch or just from lack of his beloved candy Splendid couldn't be sure, but he smiled anyway. He stood lifting both Nutty and Lammy on to his shoulders and turning back to the group of shocked tree friends.

The smile dropped from his face before he really knew what was wrong, replaced with an ominous sense of forbidding. Petunia it seemed was still staring at the firelight, still trapped wherever she went when the world got too unclean, Flaky too was still wrapped tightly in her ball of quills, Handy and Pop looked shocked out of their wits at what Splendid had just done and Giggles was busy worrying over her boyfriend's unconscious body. Which did beg one question, one rather pressing and totally terrifying question. One question that Splendid knew if went unanswered could very likely have consequences that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Why hadn't they watched him?

Oh, and he supposed he should probably be worrying about where Flippy was.

... ...

In truth Flippy had never had much intention of sticking around, true part of him wanted to be with his wife and friends, but both halves agreed his daughter was more important and others would only slow Flippy down. So as he sat by the wall of glass, which seemed thinner than usual that night, the argument was pretty one-sided.

"Are you just going to sit here?" The voice yelled from behind the glass, "Sit here and let her die just because you're afraid."

"No, no," A more worried voice replied, "There is just more... Safety in numbers." And as an after thought added, "Besides there are more people to look for them."

"We don't need more people! _You _don't need more people. We can find him, who needs safety, who cares about others? We can find him and tear his face off again."

The worried voice returned, "We don't need to, the war is over, we just need to save Sonia."

"And I will do whatever it takes. This war isn't over while he and his filthy little army are still breathing, Sonia will never be safe. Do you want that?" Silence met him, "I said do you want that answer me soldier!" The wall of glass began to shake, some force smashing into it from the other side, bending and cracking it, "Answer me damn it!" The voice was screaming now, "You think that just because you're scared you can run away and hide." The wall shook again, this time splitting from top to bottom, a single green eye showing from the other side, "Well do you?"

Flippy's eyes flickered open a second later, but not before he had seen the anger etched on his other side's face, he decided then he assumed, lying there the night before Splendid's fight with Lammy that he was going. Where he was going wasn't exactly decided, but when he got there well, that was one of the few occasions that his green-eyed half was made for.

... ...

Sonia lay against the wall of glass trying to as hard as she could to be somewhere else. The normal idyllic surrounds had warped and twisted into some demonic nightmare. Trees melted and pooled, fronds lashing up from the lake of melding colours that covered the ground. Right infront of her the entire world was collapsing, Sonia unconsciously pushed herself closer to the wall, she just had to forget that fact. Just had to close her eyes tightly and... But what she saw inside her head was even worse.

Sonia let out a scream and her eyes snapped open, she took a second to get her bearings, where had the melting meadow gone? It took her another second to realise that that must have been a dream. So if she had been asleep, why was she sitting up? Come to think of it why was her book open on her knees?

She shook her confusion from her head, choosing instead to take the simple action of reading her book. She stared down at the pages in an adamant attempt to forget her dream, reading over a section of it she had only just found recently. The pages here were almost devoid of words, instead filled with a haphazard arrangement of pictures. The newest of her as a younger girl, of her mother back before she had married her father, of their wedding day. The older ones however were the ones that interested her, people she had never seen before dressed in army fatigue lined up and smiling at the camera. At the front, just to the right she recognised her father his dog-tags gleaming as usual standing neatly to attention. Slightly to his right was another figure, this one circled, a small mouse with heavily bandaged ears and a beret similar to the hat that lay shredded on her head. Finally closer to the back and leaning heavily on a rather complex looking rifle a circled figure seemed to have been caught by the photographer half way between fading into visibility. All she could really see of that figure was two bulbous eyes and a long tongue but she got the impression of a tall thin form behind that. Those two must have been good friends of her father to be in his diary. Indeed turning her eye back to the the other photos she could see that almost all of them were of the same three people, the mouse, the fading figure and her father. Almost always next to each other, her father and the mouse smiling and the other soldier watching them both with what almost looked like cautious boredom. Sonia found her mind wandering slightly. If she got out of here would she be like her father? The thought of that green-eyed psychopath she had seen only once made a shudder course down her spine. But on the other hand she'd be glad if that voice in her head was only that, at least it seemed controllable, if only barely. She shivered again, unsure if it was apprehension or just the cold. Wait cold? When had it gotten so cold? Or dark, she could barely see the pages infront of her face anymore.

It was only now that she really noticed how cold and terrifying the nights out in the forest were. The sounds that surrounded her, robbed of the usual brightness that would have accompanied them. The dark seemed to be drawing in like a noose, chocking her. She couldn't help shaking as her breaths grew quicker. Now she was squinting through the dark in an attempt to see her book, just making out faces that had seemed so much clearer a second ago. Her eyes settled on her father's face, a familiar image in all this confusion.

And a hand slammed down on her book.

A large hand rested on her book and she felt more than heard the scream that escaped from her throat. She knew even in the dark that that hand would be green and the eyes that went with it they would be the same. The voice that waited for her behind the wall this was it, this was-

"Scared kid?" The voice was deeper than she'd expected, older, but more kind. Her eyes darted up for a second to see who had spoken, the blue rat from earlier, the one who had failed to make a speech, stood over her. In the day he had been unnerving, in the darkness of night he was truly terrifying. Sonia let out another yell, she could feel the voice in the back of her head roaring out in response to her fear.

"_Kill him! Break his head open! Us scared? Scared! Punish him." _The rat was speaking but Sonia couldn't hear him through the voice, which paused for a millisecond before breaking out into a harsh laugh, _"But you are scared aren't you? You pathetic whelp! You piece of trash! You-_" Sonia flinched away from the insults that the voice hurled at her. Just as it seemed to reach its climax though the voice suddenly disappeared. Sonia opened her eyes, which up until this point she hadn't realised she'd closed to see the rat glaring down at her, with a firm hold on her right wrist. After a second though his face softened and he released her.

"You gave me a shock there kid. What just happened?" Sonia looked up at him and just shook her head, the rat frowned slightly the slumped to the ground next infront of her, "You think you're gonna go insane right?" He laughed humourlessly, "I tell you something kid, there's a lot worse than your nightmares out here," Sonia blinked, the rat seemed a lot more sure of himself than he had been the day before, "Listen to me soldier, just find something to take your mind off it and you'll last longer." He smiled again, before moving to stand. Before he did however his eyes fell on Sonia's open book, more specifically on the picture of soldiers, on the bear and the front on the right. His smile disappeared with incredible speed and his tail flicked, "Where'd you get that book kid?"

Sonia mumbled that it was her father's before closing it, noticing the effect it was having on the rat. He tried to smile again glancing at her warily this time, "Your dad was the man at the front right?" He paused flicking his tail again trying to find the words, "He had quite the... reputation kid. Quite a reputation." There was something strange about the way he said the last part but before Sonia could work out what he meant the rat had disappeared back into the darkness, leaving Sonia once again alone struggling to get back to sleep.

"_You see that Sonia?" _The voice in her head was laughing, "_That was terror."_


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Once again thank you to everyone who reviewed. LouveAsha: I've tried to keep the paragraphs a little shorter. On a point of interest I'd like to know what anyone thinks of this chapter (I've been over the first sections dialogue several times and I'm still not completely happy). Also did anyone notice anything about Nutty and Splendid? It's not particularly important to the story plot but I wanted to check if I'm being too subtle.**

_Disclaimer: I don't own HTF but I do love writing fanfics which make it sound like I've never watched the show._

Chapter 16: Marching Rhythm

"Gregor get out here!" An angry voice rippled through the medic tent, causing its demented staff to hurry out of the way. Scalpels were dropped, medicines quickly shelved and every medic rushed to find the best hiding place for their little '_pet projects'._ No one wanted to get in the tiger general's way, but then again no one wanted the others to see what they were working on. The tiger general ignored them all, after all he was fairly sure that none of those _projects _were meant for him, he pushed passed Dale and continued yelling for the medical commander. "Gregor! If you don't get out here I'll crush your head."

A second later the huge hunched doctor materialised from the darkness. He smiled as warmly as he could at the general, which made him look even more ill than usual. The general however just swung his huge metallic claw at Gregor, barely missing the beaver and smashing an operating table to the floor. He glared at the beaver and began roaring again.

"That green eyed monster's is coming. I saw him again Gregor. I saw him!"

Gregor frowned, overlooking the mess of medicines that had spilled onto the floor and calling a few medics over to him to clear up the mess, both his eyes focused on his superior and he grimaced, "Sir, I have no doubt you did. Just rest assured he can't hurt someone like you." His voice was attempting to be unusually calm, it didn't work particularly well but the general seemed to calm slightly.

"I think your forgetting Gregor just how dangerous he is." He paused for a second, his metallic claw clicked once, he frowned "I want him dead Gregor. I just need something to kill him with."

Gregor nodded and ushered his superior into another section of the tent, followed by one of the few psychiatrists in the unit. While all this was going on nobody noticed the smallest of the medics disappear from the tent.

Toffee pushed aside the heavy canvas and took the first breath of real air he had had in hours. It felt good to get that smell of chemicals out of his nose, even if it still clung to his fur like a scared cat. He blinked slightly in the light, but after a second his eyes grew used to the brightness and he looked around.

The tents looked unusually dark and forbidding today, even though the sun was bright in the sky. Toffee guessed that it must be all the mud that covered them. He sighed, staying in a place like this for too long... well it was easy to see why most of the medics seemed to have gone mad.

He span round a second later when a footstep sounded from behind him, his coat and scarf tailing through the air obscured his vision for a second, then they fell away and a smile formed on his face. Lucy, the girl he had operated on (ugh, that wasn't something he wanted to remember) stood quietly by one of the infantry tents. Since the rest of the newest infantry had been gone for at least a day, the tent must have been almost empty except for her. For some reason that made him feel happy. The thought of one of the few children his age he had ever met out in the middle of a war was almost unbearable.

"Good to see you Lucy." Toffee struggled to keep his pseudo-professional demeanor despite his joy. "Are you doing okay?"

Lucy smiled at the question and indicated the mass of bandages wrapped around one of her shoulders. Looking at it made Toffee feel ill, he wished he'd done a better job with her bullet wound, maybe then her arm wouldn't be hanging limp by her side. No don't think about that. Toffee's hand disappeared inside his coat pocket, reemerging seconds later clutching a handful of colourful candies.

His hand didn't reach his mouth though, long before that Lucy placed her hand in the way of his arm, catching his wrist. Toffee frowned and looked up at her, the look on her face, it wasn't anger, or happiness, or compassion, instead it was a sort of pity, pity and maybe a little hope. Toffee groaned, he was larger than she was, no doubt he was stronger but... something kept his arm there, fear of hurting the silent girl more? Fear of turning out like his father? Just good old common sense? Who knew. What he did know was his arm was shaking slightly. His mismatched eyes blinked a few times trying to dispel the darkness clawing at the corners of his vision.

The last thing Toffee saw was the candies falling from his hand, then the world tipped. He was exhausted. Had his work really been that hard?

The world tipped again and threw Toffee off, sending him spinning towards the ground, towards the sky. Ground, sky, ground, sky, ground, sky. Ground? sky?

Whichever it was rushed up and smashed Toffee in the face, knocking the air from his body and all thoughts from his mind.

... ...

Lucy rushed forwards to try and catch Toffee as he fell, only to wince in pain as he fell on her injured shoulder. The pain raced through her body for a second obliterating any words that she had been about to say. For a second she could barely stand, when she managed to regain balance Toffee had already landed hard on the ground and another figure was standing a short distance away, smiling.

"My, my, my that was clumsy." The stick thin skunk laughed lightly, sauntering towards Lucy and with apparent absentmindedness kicked Toffee hard in the ribs. "The young ones don't do very well do they?"

Lucy remained silent, watching the bandages on Dale's wrist twitch slightly as his hand moved, anything was easier than looking up into someones face, not the least this skunk's overly-wide smile.

"Not very talkative. Still nothing I can do about that," He bent down and pulled Lucy's chin up to look at his face. His smile was indeed far, far too wide and the scar (barely concealed under a layer of bandage) on his cheek just made it look worse. Dale seemed oblivious however speaking slowly and quietly with a slight clicking on the vowels, "Although I know some people who can," He kicked Toffee hard again, this time in the head, "Now that is interesting isn't it little girl, someone who can make you talk. I'd enjoy watching that."

Lucy's eyes widened slightly and she stepped backward, her reflex for avoiding danger overcoming worry for her friend. Dale merely smiled, stepping over Toffee's unconscious body he took a huge stride and gripped Lucy's chin, keeping her head up so he could watch her expression.

"You know girl I can see why Gregor didn't choose you, you look like you'd faint at the slightest sight of blood, now that would be fun." He laughed pushing Lucy away so she fell to the ground hard, "But now we come to what I really want to talk about. I'd hoped that that kid would be awake to hear this but..." His smile just grew wider and wider, "I suppose you want to know what mission your friends were sent on don't you."

More silence was the only reply. This time however Dale stepped forwards and pulled Sonia back to her feet, pushing his head inches from hers. The stench from the skunk's fur was almost unbearable up close and she could barely breath in without gulping back the urge to vomit.

"Come on, your just dieing to go off and save them aren't you? What a shame for you that there aren't any hero's around here to tell you where they. I guess you'll just have to wait for them to get back or..." His smile twitched for a second before contorting into a grimace, "For me to be in a good mood."

Lucy felt the needle pierce her arm and, before she had really worked out what was going on the world had begun to spin, Dale's smile spread out across his face again. Lucy tried to speak, but either her body wouldn't let her or her mind had forgotten how to and she fell to the ground in silence.

"Well, you can sleep over that and I just found out that this works." He bent down to stare into her panic filled eyes, "Aw, don't worry I'll make it up to you little girl, want to know where your friends are." Lucy struggled to nod, to raise her head, to breathe, he mind slowly slipping away. Dale just smiled, his oversized head bobbing in her darkening vision, his voice a barely audible echo "Just look for the next town that disappears off the map after a _terrorist _attack."

... ...

Sander trudged through the forest a few steps slower than the rest of the children, the result was that she and her brother drifted further and further behind the rest of the group. The second result, she had hoped, was that she would be left behind. She was annoyed not to have gotten that lucky, the few times she had tripped (mainly due to the knife in her boot) one of the soldiers that was bringing up the rear had stepped forwards to pull her back onto her feet. That in itself made her notice something else a look of concern almost desperation in the young man's eyes. He was clearly not comfortable with the people he was in command of.

But then again who would be? She gripped her brother, who walked slowly infront of her, more tightly. She might not be entirely sure what was going on but the shiver that ran down her spine was enough to tell her that this was horribly, horribly wrong. She pulled her hard hat more comfortably onto her head then went back to helping Stanley. Her little brother had gotten slightly better since this march started (at least he was walking now) but he still looked around in abject horror at the world around him. It was the look in his eyes more than anything that made her determined that they were going to survive this, she was meant to look out for him after all.

So Sander began to sift through her mind, first what did she know. Well that huge wolf commander had said something about a seek and destroy mission; she didn't know much about army missions beyond what Sonia's father would talk about on one of his incredibly rare visits to social events but even she knew that if these people (she had decided to separate herself from the army in her mind) wanted to destroy something then they couldn't just let everyone march in and die. She had also heard one of the men talk about a village nearby so surely she could sneak away there, someone was bound to help her.

Next what did she have, well the knife still lodged painfully in her boot for one, and hopefully any weapon the soldiers would give her, a few of them looked quite easily persuadable. Finally what was more important here, herself or her friends?

Her brother stopped again, his eyes beginning to well up with tears and Sander only had to look down to answer her question. Herself and her brother were the ones who needed to survive. If only she knew how her mother and father had calmed Sander down, if she could just have remembered what songs they used to sing or what stories they had told to calm her brother down. Or to calm her down for that matter.

The march slowed, grinding to a halt quite suddenly and causing Sander to trip again, this time however the soldier at the back did not step forwards and Sander almost went sprawling on top of her brother. She regained her balance at the last minute and cast her eyes around, since she'd last paid attention to her surrounds the woods had fallen away and the trees had thinned. She noticed the ground had become more green, the mass of roots disappeared and the smell of flowers wafted gently from somewhere behind them. In any other circumstance it would have been beautiful picturesque even, not that Sander would have noticed, she had never even noticed how pretty the woods around her home town had looked.

She was glad of the scenery now, looking down at her brother, he seemed easier at ease now he was in a place that looked familiar his breathing was slower and his eyes less panicked. He was calmer now less dead to the world.

Sander let her brother's improved condition spread to her too and for a second allowed herself a smile, before the commander began to talk and she had to bring her eyes back to the front of the line.

"Soldiers our mission begins now. Over that hill is the very appropriately named Deadwood village, yes very apt name indeed, you see boys and girls." The commanders smile appeared on his face yet again, the one that Sander had learnt always meant bad news, "Our mission is destroy it and by the end of today I don't want to see a single building standing. If I do there will be consequences."

The last word was stressed as much as possible, with a barely noticeable glance at the one-eared rabbit, who flinched away with a look of horror on his face. The commander's smile just seemed to increase as he gestured towards something beside him, Sander and most of the other children at the back had to strain or dodge to one side to see what he was indicating.

A small metal panel covered a section of the ground, something you might see in the middle of the road in a city. It took Sander a second to recognise what was probably-

"This is the entrance to the sewers," The commander seemed to be enjoying this, "The plans pretty simple though," He raised his hand and indicated about half way through the group (three people to Sander's right) "All those on my left will take the forest route down towards the town and hide in the woods at the outskirts awaiting orders." He paused and Sander shuddered, it was painfully obvious what was coming next, "Those on my right are going down there," A gesture back to the sewers, "To launch an simple ambush and if any of you even think of turning back I'm gonna be right behind you."

The shudder that had passed through Sander now passed through the crowd, even some of the soldiers shivered, it was like an electric shock writhing through the group, but no one questioned the commander, nobody even so much as spoke.

The commanders smile faltered for a second, "Well, GO!"

Almost the immediately the marching line began to move again, splitting in half roughly where the commander had signaled. Sander tried to work her way into the other column, the safe one, the clean one. But bodies blocked her at every turn, slowly she was being hemmed in and forced towards the sewer by people either too scared or disciplined to disobey the commander.

Her brother then. God knew Stanley wouldn't last more than a second in a mission like this, neither of them would. So she pushed, she struggled and stumbled to push her brother through the crowd. Infront of her however one of the commander's soldiers had pushed the sewer cover away, for Sander it was as if a void had opened up in the world. A stinking, bottomless void totally separate from reality. For a second she struggled harder, but the void rose up, a huge mouth which swallowed her into the darkness.

... ...

Her breathing was the first thing he heard, harsh and fast beside him. She'd always said she was strong right? That she hadn't shared his fears. Listen to her now, listen to that breathing. Was that unafraid. They were going to die, pure and simple, by tomorrow they would all be dead. He stopped, forced himself to breath in the stink, the rising stench that wafted through every pore of his body, the stench of fear mixed with sewage. He gulped, the stink, the dirt. The creeping, crawling dirt that got inside your head, got inside you a writhed and twitched and twisted. That flowed through your veins and sat in your stomach and...

A tap on his shoulder, her reminder for him to move on, one foot infront of the other, ignore the dirt, just ignore it as it writhes, wriggles and whispers. It can't hurt you, it can't hurt you, it can't hurt you.

How long had they been down here, just marching slowly, ten minutes, half and hour, how damn long? Couldn't they just move faster? Why did they have to be here in the dirt and grime, all whispering to him, all screaming. Why, why, why?

The universe just wanted to punish him, that was it, that was it.

He struggled for speech, struggled to even breathe. Another tap on his shoulder, move on, one foot, one foot infront of another.

And her behind him, prompting him on again, his breathing came more under control. At least she was there to protect him, to protect them both. For a second he was almost calm, then the stench returned, flowing through his skin and back into his mind.

And then they were all going to die again, they couldn't possibly survive, the whispers twisted around him and told him this, it was inevitable, obvious.

But at least she was here for him, another tap, now they were moving downwards. The stench only grew stronger, the whispers grew louder.

He could barely breathe, he could barely hear over the whispers. They were inside his head, laughing and mocking him.

Another tap on his shoulder. Just inside him, crawling over and over one another.

Tap. The stench and the dirt just grew worse and worse.

Tap. His mother had helped him with this before, why couldn't she be here now?

Another tap. But he couldn't keep his feet moving, he just couldn't go on, they were all going to die, they would all just die down here, the whispering things would keep them down here till they died.

The last thing he heard was someone calling his name, felt a tap on his shoulder and the ground begin to slope back up.

"Stanley!"

And he fell.


	17. Chapter 17

_Disclaimer: I don't own HTF. I do own your soul though._

Chapter 17: Sander's War

Sander had finally realised just how fast her breathing was. Waiting here below the town in a crowded, cramped little cave she could well imagine what it was like to be buried, with the ground pushing in around you and every breath you took stealing more of what little air was left. She mentally scolded herself and forced her breathing to slow, now wasn't the time for this. Hell, she'd probably be lucky if being stuck in this rank sewer for ten hours was the worst thing that happened to her today.

There was movement behind her and she turned to try and she through the darkness. A blurred figure the soldier from earlier, the one who had helped her when she had stumbled, and again when Stanley had fainted looked down at her with eyes filled with pity.

The soldier looked down at the small skunk infront of him for a few more seconds, before mumbling something and pushing a gun into her hands, then disappearing back into the throng of people.

Sander stumbled under the weight of the weapon, glancing at it in confusion. She had never really seen a weapon like this before, let alone held one, what she had assume would be a simple point-and-shot weapon like the ones on TV was instead a mass of scopes and catches, made from black plastic and metal that seemed far past its best, covered in rust, scratches and even a huge huge crack spidering out from the trigger to the barrel. On top of that she couldn't even work out how to load the thing. Once again she was glad of the, now very uncomfortable, object lodged in her shoe, at least she wasn't totally defenseless.

Her thoughts were pulled away from this however by a cracking sound above her as someone pushed their shoulder into whatever cover blocked them off from the outside world. Another second and light poured down on them, Sander found herself standing, blinking, trying to make sense of the blurred shapes moving around infront of her. Slowly silhouettes formed.

"Instructions are pretty simple soldiers," This voice was loud but not as cruel as the commanders, "Get up there and just kill everyone, as simple as it gets." A pause while the children just stared up at the soldier trying to regain sight, "Were you listening? Move out!"

The sewer cover was thrown back and the light surged down blinding Sander again, she raised her hands and tried to shield her eyes, dropping the gun she had been holding. By the time she regained her sight the crowd had begun to move, she staggered forwards with them trying to lift her brother, almost dragging him forwards in her attempt to climb out of the sewer. She clambered out of the stinking caves and after a while of struggling succeeded in hauling both her brother and her weapon out of the sewer.

She found herself kneeling in a road, the world around her still and calm for a second, she smiled as she looked around. Tall brightly coloured building set next to painted shops surrounded by trees, just like home. For a second she felt like laughing.

Then someone behind her screamed and her dream shattered. The world came flooding back and suddenly everything was clear, she got slowly to her feet. She tightened her hand around her brother wrist and pulled him along with her, lifting him as well as she could onto her shoulder. She had never thought that Stanley could weigh so much. She staggered and lifted her useless gun in her other hand, leaning heavily on it to keep her up.

As she staggered, stumbled and struggled only one thought drifted through her mind. They had to get out of here, they had to survive.

... ...

Sonia looked down from the tree she had climbed half-way up to escape the crowd. She'd always felt at home out in the woods, it had always been her quiet place to think and looking down at the town below her she could almost imagine she was home. It was comforting to know that places like this existed.

And then it was frightening.

Then very disturbing. Something was spreading out through the town, a sort of panic. At first the world seemed calm, then single scream came from somewhere in the town. As Sonia listened the sound of panic grew, spread out and came closer and closer. Something about the sound got inside Sonia's head and somewhere behind her eyes something roared.

As she watched fires start down in the town it was as if she was watching her home burn. Tears welled in her eyes, but behind that something twisted. Sadness, fear, anger? More like... Joy?

"_Nothing to tie us down. Free to do whatever we want, eh girl."_

Sonia rammed her hands down over her ears in an effort to block out the sound, the world around her tipped slightly, blurring. Sonia closed her eyes as her vision filled up with green and the voice in the back of her head cursed and raged, filling her mind with sound. She opened her mouth in what she hoped was a silent scream.

Finally the thing inside her head settled down and she found she could open her eyes again and move her hands away from her ears. The noise seemed to have gone to have crept back into whatever hell it had crawled out of to torture her. She was left wondering if she had just imagined it, if it had just been another trick of the thing in her head.

"What did you do?" She grimaced, addressing the thing in her head and gazing out at the town; since she'd last looked fires seemed to have plumed out of the ground and some of the buildings had collapsed into ruin.

"Are you okay Sonia?" She turned to see Cub leaning on the base of another tree. Trying to avoid the press of the rest of the recruits, a few other children had climbed the trees around him but he was still having a hard time trying to look relaxed with the huge amount of people surrounding him, all of them strangely, almost eerily, silent. "Come on don't be scared." The bear smiled, "What's the worst that could happen?"

Sonia thought for a moment, it hadn't really occurred to her before exactly what she was scared of but now it came to her, "We could die." It sounded really stupid now she said it.

Cub however just nodded slowly, took a few steps forwards and clambered into the branches of the tree to sit next to Sonia, causing the branches to bend and groan, "Sonia how many times have you died?" Sonia didn't answer, choosing instead to look out across the town, "Don't get me wrong Sonia, dieing always terrified me when I was your age, I mean it is agonising but," He smiled again dropping the adult tone, "You wake up right? Dieing's nothing to be that afraid of." He patted Sonia's head, before yelping and pulling his hand away with one of Sonia's quills stuck in it.

Sonia would have laughed at any other time, but the fear was still nagging at the back of her mind, "The commander said..."

Cub looked up from massaging his injured hand, "He was lying."

"Oh yes?" The voice startled them both and they turned to see Commander Lupus leaning on the same tree Cub had been leaning against. It surprised Sonia to see him looking so relaxed, when he was about to intentionally kill so many people. That massive sharp-toothed smile of his formed slowly on his lips, "Well if I'm lying soldier, then where's my predecessor? If I'm lying then why did you stop me from punishing my recruits earlier?" Cub's face seemed to contort at the question, the memory of the little crying rabbit obviously still playing on his mind. The commander held his smile for a second longer, before unsheathing his knife and looking down at it instead of the two children, "When I said if you died out here you died for real I was being totally honest and if you had any sense you'd be careful, can't afford to lose too many of my bodyguard on the first mission the general would have my head."

He turned to his soldiers and barked out a string of orders that Sonia didn't understand and his soldiers formed up seamlessly, appearing out of the masses of recruits and drawing the recruits into neat battle lines between the trees. Sonia and Cub found themselves ordered out of the tree and standing in the front lines next to each other, the commander barked out a few more orders then fixed the recruits with his by now signature grin.

"Well recruits I'd like to take my first, and in some cases last chance to tell you what an honour it has been to insult, wound and generally abuse you over the past days and to assure you that if you make it out of here then you will be soldiers in your own right. And if you run you'd better run fast, because if I catch you there'll be hell to pay." He turned to look out at the village, "Be ready to go all of you, this'll be over soon."

... ...

Down in Deadwood Village all that Sander could see seemed to support the commander's assessment, the less stable buildings were falling into ruin, the people running and screaming and fire seemed to be everywhere. The heat was inescapable and Sander was sure she had already burned one of her feet. She was staggering at least, exhausted and using her overly-complicated gun as nothing more than a crutch to lean on. Even so she couldn't remember ever being this tired before, or this scared. She had forgotten before just how heavy Stanley's unconscious body could be, but it was all coming back, her shoulder had begun to hurt half an hour ago, a stabbing pain had been coursing down her legs for the past ten minutes and now it was taking all her effort just to put one foot infront of the other and to avoid the other soldiers. All she had seen in the last ten minutes had been corpses piled atop corpses and an idea had began to form in her head, the obvious, glaring truth.

They were all watching her, the others, watching from the shadows. Waiting for her to get tired, to slip up and then they'd pounce and they'd drag Stanley away from her and leave them both battered and bleeding along with the other corpses on the pavement. She wouldn't let that happen, if their was even the slightest chance that her brother wouldn't come back then she would have to protect him. After all the world wasn't safe for him, his fears were always there waiting for him and ready to drag him down and send him mad, she wasn't going to let that happen either.

They just needed somewhere to hide, the soldiers had left this part of the village a while ago and now it was little more than a ghost town, a pile of ramshackle frames that used to be houses piled on top of each other, Sander chose the nearest that still resembled a building and made her slow way towards it, cursing the knife in her boot inwardly yet again as she stumbled and fell ramming her gun barrel into her armpit, making her let out a yelp of pain and fall heavily, Stanley falling from her shoulder and landing on top of her, winding her.

After who knows how long she regained enough strength to push her brother off her, to pull herself up to her hands and knees and again using her gun as a cane to stand. She went to lift her brother but didn't have the strength to do anything but drag him along the ground. The next steps took far too long, she was too tired. Her legs felt like they had been weighted with lead and her head lulled even as she walked. Another step, another shot of pain down her legs, another small gasp escaped her lips.

And still the buildings seemed to get no closer, Sander felt Stanley's shirt slip from her grip again, reached back and gripped his arm. She moved so that she could lean on her gun with both hands on her gun, thinking back to how she had run earlier, she couldn't imagine how she was even walking anymore.

These thoughts kept her occupied, kept her walking, if she had known what her brother was thinking she would have realised just how similar they were. Determination must have been all that kept her going.

But kept her going it did, the building was a meter away, half a meter, only a few small footsteps. Sander felt a sigh of relief escape her mouth and leant hard on one of the old battered wooden frames of the building. She sighed and reached out a hand to push on the door, vaguely noticing it was slightly ajar and-

She was thrown off her feet by an impact to her chest and flew backwards, colliding with Stanley and landing in a heap. She desperately tried to stand again but the best she could manage was to sit, even that caused a huge flash of pain to cross a chest.

Sander's vision blurred and multiplied for a moment, then. well, it didn't really settle but at least she could tell what she was looking at. A man was standing in the doorway of the building, a dark grey anteater who had clearly once been huge before his back had developed into a hump and he had gained a heavily stooped posture. Now he was almost as wide as he was tall and his shaggy fur fell over his eyes , which were filled with fear and hatred. He looked old but must have been strong, that much was clear from the metal folding chair he held in his long clawed hands. That would explain the pain in her chest. The claws were sharp to, Sander was pretty sure they must have punctured her shoulder and cut her stomach and face. At least blood was pouring into her right eye and her hard hat was nowhere to be found.

Sander made another futile effort to blink the double vision out of her eyes but to no avail, the old anteater growled, stepping forwards and raising the chair above his head, Sander whimpered and tried to scuttle back, but her injured arm wouldn't move. The anteater growled something under his breathe, and brought the chair down. Sander tried moving her arm to shield her face and closed her eyes. She didn't want to see the blow that was coming.

Of course after a few seconds she realised the blow wasn't coming. Sander opened her eyes a crack, double images still floating in the air infront of her.

The anteaters folding chair had dropped to the ground next to him. His eyes were glassy and his hands were clasped over his chest, blood seeping between them at an alarming pace.

Sander watched with a sort of horror as the old man fell backwards.

As Sander watched the man's killer stepped from the shadows, the soldier that had helped her earlier, another knife (identical to the one that now jutted from the man's chest) ready in his hand. He raised the knife and turned to face Sander, his eyes cold and angry. She yelped, begging and trying to crawl away. The soldier looked down at her, then a hint of recognition showed in his eyes and then...

A deafening blast came from behind her and the man crumpled, his legs folding up underneath him and Sander scurried as quickly as she could out the way to avoid him falling on her. She tried to look round, tried to move to see where brother was. With herculean effort she managed to twist her body round. A stab of pain shot through her, causing her to cry out. Her voice sounded so quiet, like it was coming from a thousand miles away. The stab of pain in her ankle just kept getting worse and worse, she could feel something warm and sticky filling up her boot and from the way her vision was wavering Sander could tell she wouldn't be awake for long.

A blurry cloud seemed to be falling over Sander's vision. She could see her brother lying on the ground, to her relief his eyes seemed to be slowly forcing themselves open. Behind him though something was moving out of the darkness. A blurred figure towering over him. Sander tried to yell a warning, but it got lost somewhere in her throat, tried to crawl forwards to help him. But the cloud fell over her, making the number of figures she was seeing multiply alarmingly and began to twist in an unfocused dance. Sander made one last attempt to call out to her brother but something rose up out of the cloud of blurred images.

And suddenly there was only darkness.


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: Sorry about not having an Author's note on the last one (Although I doubt anyone minded), I also apologise for a load of odd update times. Still the reason the last chapter lacked an author's note was that this and the last chapter were originally the same chapter, but the length was ridiculous so I separated them and gave them two hastily rushed chapter names. Still I hope everyone enjoys this, it didn't plan out the way I'd thought it would but I'm still relatively proud of my work, so please R&R and give me something to talk about next chapter.**

_Disclaimer: I don't own HTF._

Chapter 18: Sonia's War

It was only when they reached the outskirts of the village that Sonia realised just how close to them the fires had been. She could feel the heat from some buildings from quite a distance away. The smoke, wafting on what would have been a gentle breeze, stung her eyes and made her choke long before they had reached the first fire.

As the recruits moved out of the forest Sonia looked around again, most of the recruits looked terrified, she was sure she must have looked just as bad, clutching their guns and visibly shaking. Some of the children seemed almost ready to run, but of course they didn't. The commander's warning must have been still ringing in their ears.

To make matters worse Sonia could only see around half of the soldiers that had entered the woods with them. Some were flanking the recruits, keeping them more or less in line, others however had disappeared into the forest, or scrambled up trees. One of the soldiers, to Sonia's amazement (and abject terror) seemed to have faded out of realty all together, melding seamlessly into the scenery behind him, it occurred to Sonia that the man could have been standing right behind her now and she wouldn't even know till he cut her throat.

Sonia's hands tightened around her knife.

Sonia didn't notice that the few remaining soldiers were drifting through the crowd until one of their hands gripped her shoulder and then she barely suppressed the urge to scream.

"We're spreading out soldier, follow me and stay close, you see anyone kill them, any of you try and run I kill you." Sonia gulped again when she recognised the cold voice of the commander.

A few seconds later the crowd began to disperse and Sonia got a good look at the others in her group. Commander Lupus was even larger up close, his sharp teeth looked truly massive, Sonia was surprised he could even talk with them. Behind him stood the one eared rabbit, still disturbingly silent, clutching a large gun in both of his hands as if he intended to use it as a club. At least the final member of the group was a familiar face for Sonia, Cub was standing a moderate distance away trying his best to look calm and reassuring, but Sonia could see that should the Commander reach out his hand he could snap Cub's neck before he ever had a chance to react. Cub must have noticed too because every so often his eyes would dart to the commander and back to the town, his fists clenching and unclenching. If Cub had been given a weapon he wasn't holding it.

The commander cleared his throat and Sonia turned her attention back to him. For once she was almost glad of the hulking grey wolf, at least he wouldn't be easily killed. The commander was giving out orders again, but something in Sonia's head surfaced and suddenly all that seemed very far away. Suddenly all her fear and sadness just drained out of her and she was floating above everything, totally emotionless. Then something green rose up around her and everything went numb.

This time Sonia was glad of whatever it was that was in her head, last time she had been trapped in her mind, unable to act but forced to watch every second. This time she was free, away from the fear and danger and able to just lay all the responsibility on someone else's shoulder.

The commander finished his latest speech and the group suddenly began to move, Sonia's legs matching the others' pace easily. It seemed to Sonia that she was just floating along somewhere and her legs were just moving far away in the distance. It was all just so effortless.

The buildings were drifting passed her now slipping out of the side of her vision almost as soon as she focused on them. She didn't have to care about them anymore she realised, she could just let them slip by her and she didn't have to worry. After all someone else was in charge now.

The group moved slowly through the town, stopping occasionally to check through wrecked buildings or for the commander to give more orders. The shape of an idea floated up to where she was.

What if she found someone? Would she be able to kill them?

The thought swum away as quickly as it had arrived. Left her floating softly through her little green world. A smile spread slowly across her face as she felt everything important just fall away. Did she even still have a face to smile with? Did it matter?

Did anything matter come to think of it?

Sonia couldn't remember feeling this calm in her life, just letting someone else control every thought. She let her mind drift back to what her body was doing.

And saw the corpse.

What had once been a chipmunk in green army fatigues lay hunched over in some corner. Blood pooled down the creature's stomach and it seemed to still be struggling for it's last breaths, not that that would save it, Sonia's knife was lodged firmly in its chest.

Maybe that was the worst thing about this, she had done it. Sonia couldn't remember but she was sure she had. The blade was still in her hand but she couldn't feel it. The sea of green around her was suddenly writhing with images.

Her father smashing that car off the road, the face of the driver as their face had been turned to paste.

Lucy the moment that bullet had hit her.

Her father, eyes green soaked in blood as he stepped away from the raccoons' bodies.

Her mother standing there, defending her from her father's green eyed self.

And all of the pain his log had promised in that scrawled, jagged font.

The body of that mouse among the piles of corpses from the barracks, the one that had caught her eye.

A huge flash of green.

... ...

Sonia's eyes flickered open. As soon as they did the smell of burning met her and her ears were filled with the sound of fighting.

A ruined city sprawled out infront of her. Collapsed buildings and corpses piled high, all faceless and all whispering at her as soon as her back was turned. Everything had a strange red tinge to it and she could feel something just outside of her field of vision, dancing away from her every time she turned around. Even that feeling was enough to make her worried. As for the surroundings themselves...

Nightmarish. The sort of thing a deluded, psychotic toddler would dream up, tortured, twisted and oh-so-very wrong.

But this place still seemed familiar.

Just looking around sent a shudder of terror down her spine, but she still recognised this place.

Sonia took a tentative step forwards, released a breath she hadn't been aware of holding and...

A massive glass wall was suddenly right infront of her, knocking her off her feet.

"Oh sorry dear." Sonia looked up to see her father, behind the glass and covered once again in blood, "Need some help?" The horrific image stretched out it's hand causing Sonia to scurry away. Her father just smiled cruelly and sat back.

Sonia bit back tears and tried to look up at the thing wearing her father's image, tried to grip onto some thought to distract her from it. Then she noticed her surroundings again, "What happened here?" Was the first question that came to mind.

"What do you mean?" The reply was calm as if entirely used to the war torn city that surrounded it. "It's always been like this."

Sonia frowned, she didn't know what answer she'd expected but it definitely wasn't that. "Last time I saw you though we were in a field. This place used to be a meadow."

The Flippy-creature let the smile on his face stretch and for a second he almost looked amused, "No, it looked like a meadow, it's always been like this underneath, that little part of your nightmares that you just can't get out of your head."

Sonia frowned and turned round to look out at the city. However the wall of glass seemed to melt and follow her so no matter how far she span it never moved from right infront of her.

The image of her father laughed when Sonia stopped spinning, "Silly, stupid little Sonia. You don't think you can shake me off do you dear? No I'm here for good."

Sonia tried to keep the thoughts spinning, not giving them enough time to settle in the hope that she wouldn't have to face them, "What are you?"

"That's quite simple Sonia I'm your father. I'm here to help you in your hour of need and, as I said before, you'll never get rid of me. So why don't we just stop bickering and you come and give your old man a hug?" He spread his arms wide and smiled again, exposing his blood stained teeth, then sighed, "Perhaps not. But that's not really the problem here is it?" His smile returned as the blood on his clothing and fur began to move "The problem is what your not facing," The blood became a twisting mass, "What did you do Sonia?"

The blood pooled at his chest and Sonia tried to turn away. Most of Flippy's face was covered by the mass of dripping gore. A knife jutted from the new figures chest and Sonia recognised the face of the soldier she had killed. She continued spinning, still trying to shake the image, still trying to turn away and, when she couldn't, something slipped ever so slightly. Sonia found herself kneeling on the ground, tears rolling down her face.

She had no idea how long she stayed that way, all she knew was the next thing she heard was her father's voice in her ear.

"There, there calm down Sonia, it's not your fault." She opened her eyes but all she could see was a blurred green shape very close to her, "That's the side I wanted to see, that's what you've been screening off isn't it. This-" A tap on her shoulder, "Is what Sonia is really feeling isn't it?" Sonia felt herself nod sadly, "Good, good, do you want to stay here?"

The voice had sounded more kind this time but something about it sent the greatest chill down Sonia's spine. She pulled back and finally the images came into focus. Her father, locked away behind the mirror, still smiling, more and more blood soaking slowly through his shirt. Sonia shivered and backed away, the wall of glass followed.

"W-what do you mean?" Even Sonia could tell that her stammer was obvious, "I c-can't stay here." She took a few more rushed steps back, before her foot collided with something behind her, she tried to move round it to escape the wall, but the image of her father was inescapable before her.

"I mean stay here. Have you ever been injured in a nightmare, I mean really injured?" Her father leaned forwards till his hands were pressing on the glass, "Have you ever had a nightmare as terrifying as what you see in you life everyday day now?" His hand pressed harder and a heavy crack made Sonia flinch, "Have you ever found something you can't deal with and wanted someone else to take over." The glass cracked again and now the hand was reaching out, the glass clinging to it like ice. "There's nowhere safer than here Sonia. Here with me."

Sonia flinched as whatever was behind the mirror placed its hand on whatever was behind her and her father pushed himself out. moving like he was underwater "You belong here Sonia, this place is a part of you," The voice was harsher now, far, far louder and more commanding. But her father's eyes softened and he looked straight into her soul, "Why won't you stay Sonia? Stay here and I can give you whatever you want."

Sonia whimpered as her father pushed himself away from her, sinking back into the glass, "W-what do you m-mean?"

The thing behind the mirror laughed, "You sound just like your mother." It's skin twisted, tearing off as huge quills pushed their way through, pouring blood on the floor and leaving Sonia staring at her mother, "But I can be her as well. If you need comfort I'm here. If you need friends." The spines collapsed and her father's voice raised an octave, leaving her staring at Lucy, "I can be here." The thing said in Lucy's voice, quiet and sad, "You need protection from all of the bad things out there."

The thing spread its arms and suddenly Sonia was looking at the city. All of it's collapsed spires and houses were filled with darkness and _things_. Some of them small bat like things, others huge hulking monsters, all of them something she'd imagined or heard about. The thing disguised as Lucy formed infront of them, larger than any of the creatures. "I'm here and I can be very, very persuasive."

Sonia gulped, looking up at the giant version of her usually timid friend, "What are you? Why are you doing this?"

The thing behind the mirror laughed, leaning out again and stroking the tears away from Sonia's cheek. "That's real very simple Sonia, can't you stay here? We'll sort everything out for you and you can be happy here. After all we're all your friends here."

Sonia climbed slowly to her feet staring at the thing in the mirror that was now something halfway between her father and Lucy. She took a step towards it and this time the glass did not retreat. She pressed her hands against it, a shiver shooting down her arm even as it touched the glass. When she spoke her voice was barely audible, "No."

The thing in the mirror grimaced, "What do you mean?"

Sonia's voice was shaking, but that didn't matter. Her voice was being multiplied from every side by whatever was behind the glass. "I mean 'No'." She aware of her voice growing louder, "I can't stay here." She went to step forwards and this time the wall of glass did back away, "I need to get out of here."

As the last words left Sonia's mouth a huge crack opened up in the glass. The thing with green eyes looked down and swore, its image distorting for a second as the glass blew into shards. The last Sonia saw of it was an image of her own face, twisted in a look of unbelievable hatred.

Then reality came crashing back down.

... ...

Sonia was running, tearing through back alleys and side roads as quickly as her legs would carry her. What was going on? Other people were running as well, children she recognised from the recruits, other soldiers from the commander's retinue. Cub rushed passed her, nearly dragging two other children along with him and yelling something at her. The sounds just got mixed up somewhere and carried off by the wind rushing round them.

A thunder clap sounded behind her and something whizzed passed Sonia's ear. She instinctively ducked out the way, watching as the girl ahead of her tripped and fell, Sonia didn't stop to see if she got up. She turned another corner, running as if her life depended on it now, not caring to look at the people around her.

Whatever was behind them though was catching up Sonia knew it. Her muscles were burning, her mind was screaming. Any second now whatever was chasing them would be right on top of her.

Sonia's muscles gave one last scream of protest and before she had figured out why the ground was rushing up to meet her, her legs collapsed underneath her. Another thunder clap sounded above her and something else shot passed her.

Sonia winced as another figure infront of her fell, then tried to climb back to her feet. As soon as she tried though someone grabbed her and pushed her back down.

"Stay down soldier." A gruff voice whispered, "That's an order."

The pressure on Sonia's back lessened slightly and she was able to turn. Commander Lupus stood over her, his uniform torn and stained dark red with blood.

Sonia would have screamed but the commander's hand covered her mouth. "Idiot, do you want to die? Just shut up and wait."

Sonia felt tears well up in her eyes again but nodded mutely. Commander Lupus released his grip on the girl and moved into a position where he could see the nearby alleyways more easily. Sonia only now got the chance to look around, somehow she and the commander had ended up alone in a small alcove in one of the alleyways, the rest of their group had left them behind and their pursuers, probably dissuaded by the smoke and collapsing buildings, had chosen to take another route. Commander Lupus finished checking whatever he had been worried about and came and sat down next to Sonia, one hand holding his knife, the other feverishly polishing its blade. Sonia, who had never thought she would see the commander looking nervous, was surprised by just how much he seemed to depend on that knife, twisting it round in his hand to inspect the other side.

Sonia had no idea how long they sat there like this, the commander muttering battle plans to himself, her shaking, too terrified to move. Finally the commander lowered his gaze from his knife.

"When I tell you, run." He looked round at Sonia and she could barely believe he was the same man she had seen on the first day. His grey fur fell down infront of his eyes and now he wasn't smiling he looked a lot older, "Run like all hell is chasing you, because if I catch you I will tear you to shreds,"

Sonia blanched at this image and nodded. The commander sighed and pulled himself to his feet.

"Well come on soldier, get to your feet!"

Sonia nodded and jumped to her feet as quickly as she could, "Y-yes sir."

Commander Lupus' hand twitched slightly and he muttered something to himself, before setting off at a slow pace which Sonia found easy to match. They passed several burnt out wrecks and corpses in both green and black army fatigues but the commander didn't stop, if anything he just walked faster, making Sonia struggle to keep up.

Then they were suddenly out in the open, out of the back alleys and heading towards the edge of the village.

The commander looked up and his smile reappeared on his face, twisting itself upwards and revealing his huge teeth. He pushed Sonia back into one of the side alleys and pushed himself close to the wall as a group of people in green uniform rushed passed, yelling something about casualties.

As Sonia watched them she finally mustered the courage to ask the question that had been chewing on the corners of her mind all this time.

"What's happening here... Sir?" She added at the last minute.

The commander turned round to face her, and his smile dropped for a second, "What has happened here recruit is something has gone very badly wrong. The general's going to have my guts." He paused and his knife twisted in his hand again, "I figure I need to be somewhere where he can't find me."

Sonia frowned, trying to work up the courage to ask what he meant, "Sir-"

The commander held up a hand and covered Sonia's mouth, cutting off the question she was about to ask, "It's time to run now kid." Saying this the commander pulled her off her feet, swinging her and throwing her towards the forest.

What happened next came to Sonia as a series of disjointed images.

The commander charging the people in green from behind yelling something she didn't understand as his knife carved through them.

The blood exploding from the commander's shoulder.

His huge smile as the commander cut the gunman down.

The hundreds of explosions of blood that burst from the commander's chest, stomach and head.

And then the forest was getting closer as Sonia scurried forwards as quickly as she could, not looking back in case the commander were to wake up and come after her.

Sonia only noticed the other recruits when she barreled into one of them, knocking them to the ground.

The remaining recruits had spread themselves out through the forest and Sonia could see just from looking around that they were all as terrified as she was, probably even more so. She shook her head trying to dispel the images that crawled back up into her mind now she could think. It didn't matter, all those people would be fine as soon as they woke up, after all death had never lasted before. But those images just resurfaced making her assertions seem even weaker and more fragile than before.

Gradually Sonia became aware of the sea of voices around her, most worried mutterings and sobs but from somewhere came more businesslike tones that Sonia couldn't understand. She looked around to see the huge blue rat, followed by a group of soldiers. He moved his way through the recruits towards her. He looked down at her and for second something dark crossed his face. Then it was gone and the business like tone returned, he yelled a handful of orders to his soldiers, who disappeared back into the crowd.

"The Commander?" Sonia shook her head, "Anyone else?"

"I don't know sir." Sonia said quietly, but the blue rat obviously heard her as he frowned and turned away, motioning for her to follow.

They worked their way through the crowd of people and as they progressed it became easier to make their way through as the crowd thinned. Sonia got the impression that whatever they were heading towards was something that the others wanted to avoid at all costs.

A greying tent was set up at one end of the clearing and around it lay piles of what appeared to be rag dolls and equipment. That puzzled Sonia slightly but she shook it from her head, something about it was too disturbing to focus on.

The blue rat stopped at the entrance to the tent and yelled something that once again Sonia couldn't understand, then waited for a second before beckoning her over and motioning her inside without another word.

The inside of the tent was dark and damp, the only real light coming from the entrance behind Sonia and illuminated row after row of glass bottles and rolls of fabric. The light also fell on a load of strange masses on the floor and balanced on benches. Something about them told Sonia that she didn't want to think too much about them. She took a second to get her bearings then stepped cautiously forwards, calling out to whatever was in the tent.

"Ah Sonia," A familiar voice rang out from the darkness, "It's good to know you got out okay."

Sonia took a few more steps forwards, aware that the voice in her head was screaming, before breaking into a run, hurrying through the dark and kneeling down next to one of the things, which she now realised were a type of makeshift bed.

Cub lay infront of her, half his face hidden by shadow, the other half covered in sweat and blood, he was obviously putting most of his effort into smiling, "I wondered how long you'd take to get here."

Sonia could feel her stomach tying itself into knots but some how she managed to get the words out, "What happened?"

Cub just smiled again, before shifting his weight and pulling the blankets that covered him off with one hand so Sonia could see the massive amount of flesh that had been torn from his side and stomach, exposing his shattered ribs and leaking blood onto the ground underneath him, he looked up at her shocked expression and laughed weakly, "Yeah, I'm told a big enough bullet'll do that to you. Of course the explosion didn't help. They told me Brair here had to drag me all the way back here."

Sonia followed Cub's gaze and noticed a figure standing in the corner. The one-eared rabbit was leaning against the wall, tears dripping off his whiskers. It struck Sonia that he still wasn't making a sound, then Cub winced and Sonia forced her eyes away from the rabbit and back to her friend. She noticed a small drip of blood on Cub's lip and dabbed it away as gently as she could with her sleeve.

"How do you feel?" It was pathetic but it was the only thing Sonia could think of right now. That and the fact there was too little blood, at home there would always be more blood.

Cub's smile lapsed for a second and now more blood was leaking out between his teeth and down his face, "Hurts like hell. But hey we've all done this before." He looked up at Sonia's worried face and laughed again stretching his hand out he patted her gently on the head, this time making sure not to spear himself. Then his stomach convulsed and he yelled out letting his hand drop back to the ground.

Sonia went to help him but Cub held up his hand again, "D-don't-" His voice shook this time and the pain was horribly obvious on his face, "Don't go anywhere Sonia, when I wake up I want you to be there to welcome me back." His eyes settled on the rabbit in the corner, "You too Brair I'm still not sure you'll survive without me." He smiled as softly as he could then rolled over.

Sonia put a hand out and rested it on Cub's shoulder, the thoughts that had plagued her coming back up again, "You'll be back Cub? Promise?" It all sounded so childish to her, she wished she could say something... more.

But Cub just nodded, "Of course I'll be back Sonia. Just let me rest." He pushed her hand off him and she moved to see his face more clearly. Her eyes crossed his face and she could see he was gone. There was too little blood, there should be more. His words were still ringing in her ears, hollow and unconvincing.

Far, far too little blood.

Sonia's eyes were shut, her breathing was coarse. Even the voice in her head had grown silent. She couldn't move a muscle. She was struggling to even breathe. Even think.

Far too little blood. All too little.

Then the corners of her mouth twitched. Twisted. Her face twisted itself upwards and her hand clasped around something.

And then her eyes were open.

And Brair was flying backwards, his head at the wrong angle and his eyes wide open.

And then laughter was ringing in her ears.

And she was running through the forest, weaving between the piles of corpses and leaping over roots and rocks.

And laughter still rang in her ears.

There had been too little blood.

And she had to get out of here.


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: I'm happy with this chapter (for once) at least the way it ends. Reviews will of course be appreciated. Answers here for Bitter Strawberry at least (even if no else was thinking it) and thanks to LouveAsha and Gunslingers-White-Roses. I've been a bit busy recently so they'll probably be a long gap after this. Enjoy and review.**

_Disclaimer: I don't own HTF, but I do reserve ability to kill them in this fic (and every other one I write)._

War 19: Charity

It was no exaggeration to say that everything had fallen apart.

People were starting to panic, Cuddles could see that from a mile away, Petunia hadn't had a good day in... He thought for a second- maybe a week, time just seemed to blend together. Normally he measured time by how often he died, without death his system fell apart. The same seemed to be true of the others, Flaky was almost as bad as Petunia, jumping at every shadow, clinging to whoever was next to her as tightly as she could. And God he'd forgotten about the screaming, just how much could set that girl off. It didn't help that Handy and Pop seemed to have reached an all time peak of annoyance, Pop had even knocked Nutty unconscious twice, causing Splendid to cast him a look that promised incredible, super powered pain. All in all it was a disaster.

The only positive was that he didn't have to carry the caveman any more. Splendid had offered to carry Cro-Marmot, and Petunia, and Nutty when he fainted, and most of the equipment, and even Flaky.

So why the hell was Cuddles still stuck carrying this damn lamb. He bit back a curse and looked over the girl he was carrying. She was awake again and clutching that stupid pickle like it was a god or something. Her eyes darted down to meet his and his immediate reaction was to smash her head against a rock for all the things she'd done. Then he saw the fear in her eyes, the pure naivety and he wanted to smash her head open even more. How on earth was it possible to be so flipping naïve when you die so much?

The girl must have seen the look in his eye, because she let out a bleating yelp, twisting and falling out of Cuddles' arms. For a second she lay there on the ground, whimpering and struggling to move, holding that damn pickle out as if it could actually help her. Cuddles almost laughed, he could sweep that out of the way in a second and smash her skull open. Better yet he could just walk away, let that psycho crawl home. What was she doing here anyway she had no reason to be here; it wasn't like anyone would miss her if she just left.

But then he looked down again, saw her the way the others would, a tiny little lamb, terrified of her own idiotic imagination. Not just that a small girl, not even reaching his shoulder, with a broken leg, fractured skull, multiple cracked ribs (according to Cro, god knows how he knew) and who knows how many other injuries. Pity flooded through his mind for a second, washing away any thoughts of revenge. If he killed the girl now what would the others think of him, Splendid would probably smash his face in.

So he stopped, smiled and bent down to pull the girl up into his arms, carefully moving the pickle out the way, trying to calm her. After all it wasn't like he could hurt her anymore, not without the others killing him.

That was why he doing this, the others opinions, not out of charity.

Definitely not charity, after all he'd never believed in it.

... ...

Moving through the depths of the huge forests that seemed to cover the world Flippy had learnt that the light had a habit of playing tricks on you. At least that was what he told himself as he watched the figure moving alongside him with so much ease that he almost seemed to be sauntering. However when the chameleon stepped out of the trees and gripped Flippy by the arm, pulling him to a stop, he could no longer keep deluding himself.

He whipped his head around, drawing out his knife and slashing at the abomination, but it caught his hand stopping him dead.

"I thought you said you just needed to talk." Flippy whipped around his fist smashing straight through the mouse that had come up behind him. The mouse though just smiled barely flinching before raising the stump of a wrist to keep Flippy's hand down, apparently ignorant of the fear in the soldier's eyes. "I wonder how is your memory this time mon frère." He pulled away from Flippy, closing his eyes and smiling, "Do you remember why you're here?"

Flippy managed to break through his terror enough to mumble something about 'rescue'. The mouse didn't acknowledge it (Of course he wouldn't, his eyes were closed and his bandaged ears gave no illusions about his ability to understand). No instead the mouse continued his speech as if he were the only one talking in the world.

"Do you remember who we're here for? Do remember the end of the war? Your petite aime? Do you remember her name?" His eyes opened and suddenly he was very close, regarding Flippy with an almost obsessive interest, "Do you remember my name?"

Flippy's terror was totally evident now, tears were streaming down his face for the first time he could remember. He didn't want to think about that. Couldn't think about that. He screwed his eyes tightly shut but the mouse's voice still drifted through into his head.

"You need to remember what you did mon frère, everything you did." The voice had returned to that sing-song pitch that always accompanied bad news, "Or else you don't really expect to win do you?"

Flippy's opened his eyes eventually, only to find himself alone again. He blinked and swallowed his fear again, resheathing his knife. He could hear the soldier in his head cursing loudly and hurling insults at him but he shook it off and began to move again. He had to get out of here before those _things _crawled back out of the woods again. After a few steps he began to hear them again, behind him, uncomfortably close.

And suddenly he was running, leaping over branches, twisting backwards to throw a penknife from his sleeve, doing everything he could to get away. He couldn't look back. Not now, not ever. He just couldn't face that.

Then he saw it, movement infront of him, in the trees. Almost by instinct he leapt into the trees and was concealed on one of the lower branches before he had time to think. He smiled, a bit like a cat ready to pounce, watching as whatever had moved came into view, stumbling forwards. A small figure in a green beret.

And seeing them Flippy really did smile.

... ...

Sonia ran until she could run no more. Till her legs gave out beneath her and she fell heavily on the cold ground. She closed her eyes as the pain and exhaustion shot through her.

When her eyes opened it was dark and her muscles ached. Sonia pulled herself to her feet, slower than she would have liked, and tried to run again but her legs wouldn't move that quickly, shaking underneath her, so that the best she could manage was a slow stagger. Sonia stopped to lean against a tree for a second, realising almost immediately that she had no idea where she was going.

Home she decided after a second. Well then, which way was that?

Sonia felt a little wave of despair and panic tear through her, for a second the world swayed again. Then something clicked, just for a second Sonia felt stronger, less hopeless.

"_Just keep on going," s_aid the voice in her head_, "It doesn't matter if you never see home again, just don't die." _For the briefest second she worried about that. Why wasn't the voice angry, she'd ran, she was a coward wasn't she.

That didn't matter now either though, _"Just keep on going." _Sonia pulled herself away from the tree, only realising now just how tightly she had been clinging on to it. She staggered forwards again, ignoring her screaming limbs and following the voices advice.

A few minutes later Sonia heard a sound from infront of her, a lot of twigs all snapping in incredibly rapid succession. She stopped abruptly to listen for more noise, but nothing else followed, if anything that was even more intimidating. Sonia took a step to the left and listened again, still absolute silence. Another step, then another, Sonia pushed that part of her brain that told her something was about to go horribly, horribly wrong down and began to shakily walk forwards.

"There you are!" The voice made Sonia jump, she looked up to see a figure perched in one of the trees above her, half-hidden behind branches. "I've been looking for you everywhere." The speaker slipped from the tree to stand infront of her and Sonia almost broke out laughing, or crying she didn't know which, she just knew that her father- her father!- was standing right infront of her smiling down at her. It was more than she could have dreamed of. She tried to open her mouth to say something but words failed her completely. She just took a few stumbling steps forwards and wrapped her arms around him. Her father patted her on the back a few times before pulling away to look at her with a huge smile on his face.

"Don't go soft on me now Kaboom," Sonia's hopes shattered, she'd never heard that name before but it was obvious he wasn't talking to her, that large smile was still on his face, "And next time you go off like that report it to your superiors."

Sonia struggled for words, but couldn't find them, she just nodded and followed her father when he turned away and disappeared back into the forest. She had barely gone fifty meters though before her legs gave out beneath her again, sending her sprawling to the ground again. When she had enough energy to open her eyes her father was crouched down next to her smiling, not a trace of green in his eyes.

"Hard mission eh Kaboom? Usually takes a lot to knock you down." He hooked his arm round Sonia's shoulders and pulled her to her feet. He smiled gently and half carried, half dragged his unrecognised daughter back through the trees to a small fire he'd set in a clearing. Dropping her unceremoniously down to lean on a tree Flippy crossed to a pack by the fire, still rambling about 'missions'. Sonia tried to crane her neck to see more carefully what he was doing; but although she was more awake than before her body still didn't want to do what she wanted it to, so she just lay there and watched her father bend down near the fire till he was little more than a silhouette.

Then he was suddenly right infront of her, pushing a bottle into her hands and making her jump. Flippy frowned again, steadying the bottle, "You're a bit on edge, eh? I thought you could do with a drink but I didn't know you needed one that badly."

Sonia nodded again, not daring to trust her voice at the moment, and took the bottle that was offered to her, after all she did feel incredibly thirsty. She took a gulp and almost immediately spat it back out spluttering, the liquid felt almost burning and made her mouth sting. She was more careful the next time she took a sip of the drink, but it still tasted foul. Somewhere nearer the fire she heard her father make a comment, something in the back of her mind twisted a little at that, but for the most part she ignored it. Taking another sip from the bottle she dismissed it completely, then another sip. The drink had seemed disgusting at first but, once you got past the burning it left a sort of pleasant tingle in the back of her mouth.

Another sip, actually this drink wasn't so bad, at least it made that voice in the back of her head shut up and sit down. She took a big gulp the next time, a good drink she decided that was all she needed. A very good drink, but then again it did make her head spin...

A lot.

The next thing she was really aware of was a splitting headache and an empty bottle, that and someone singing. She looked up, her limbs didn't ache so much any more but she still felt unsteady. Slowly, or as quickly as she could without feeling like her mind was splitting open she looked up. She saw the fire burnt down to embers, she saw her father sitting back against another tree, singing and throwing an apple from hand to hand. He saw her move though and smiled, grabbing a stick from a pile next to him and tossing it onto the fire so they could see each other clearly.

"Who can't take their drink now Kaboom?" He laughed, "Seriously call yourself a soldier?" In that second the back of Sonia's mind twisted again and she wanted to cry, to wrap her arms around her father and to remind him that she wasn't a soldier, that she wasn't meant to be here, that she was his daughter and she wanted to go home. But her voice stuck and once again she just came out with a stuttering mass of nothing and anyway how would telling him anything help really. Her father was clearly out of his mind and what he said next just affirmed that theory.

"We're going to end this war Mouse. I'm going to find that damn tiger and I'm going to have his head for breakfast."

And for a second Flippy's face twisted into a look of hatred that so perfectly mirrored Commander Lupus' when he had attacked Briar that Sonia flinched away. Only one thing came into her mind, "Why?"

Flippy's face darkened still further, and his voice rose a pitch, "Why, because he did all this. Because he dragged this whole damned continent into war. Because he burnt villages and signed death warrants and killed my friends." Flippy rose to his feet and stepped towards her, "And he broke my bones, and ripped my mind to shreds and left me with this, this _thing _in my head. And if that wasn't enough, he took my daughter."

... ...

The last words seemed to slip out before Flippy even knew what he was saying, but as soon as they were out they bounced around his head, smashed through those little walls he'd built to keep himself sane. Memories came flooding back, ones he was glad of, ones he hated, so many terrified and comforted him.

His daughter's first day at school. Her first steps.

His own marriage. The day he met Flaky. And before that-

The war. Oh God the war.

_'You moron, can't even deal with a little blood. You're pathetic.'_

... ...

As Sonia watched her father's eyes changed. A flash of recognition, then of joy, terror and finally a spark of green, which grew and spread out till it filled Flippy's iris. He twitched for a second before looking at her carefully with an expression somewhere between joy and disbelief, as if he couldn't quite decide if she was real.

"Sonia!" Her father's smile widened still further when Sonia nodded shakily, "I'm so glad to see you."

He didn't sound glad to her though, not with that gravely voice, sharp teeth and bright green eyes that she had last seen in her nightmares.

"What's the matter Sonia?" Flippy's smile wavered, "It's me, your dad."

Sonia blinked, that thing in her head it had something like that hadn't it? Part of Sonia's brain clicked into place. That was it, this twisted, horrific world she'd fallen into where death was permanent and her friend had gone. This was all just a nightmare, none of this could be real after all.

Her father was still talking, reassuring her, telling her she'd be fine. Sonia didn't listen, all she was aware of was the tone he used, the exact same voice that the thing in her head used.

Not real, definitely not happening.

"Sonia, you're safe here." Flippy was getting worried, and for his green-eyed self paranoia, worry and anger all sort of blurred into one, he turned away and drove his knife into a tree, "When I catch that damn tiger I'll-"

It was when he turned his back that Sonia chose to run, to get out of here, away from this twisted nightmare and back to the real world. Behind her Flippy whipped around, his eyes still flaring green but now wide with surprise.

"Sonia!" He set off after her as fast as his legs could carry him, "You can't leave!"

Under normal circumstances he would have caught her easily, but as he reached the edge of the woods where Sonia had run several large figures in black army uniform appeared. Most of them looked terrified, after all they didn't stop him for long, just long enough.

As for Sonia she was so intent on running and on avoiding the various roots that sprawled out infront of her that she didn't notice the purple figure with dark glasses and an army uniform until he spoke.

"I'm sorry ma'am." He had a strong accent and as Sonia stumbled to a halt some part of her noticed it, "I can't let you go any further, General's orders."

It was a shame that she didn't notice the the thin cane that span out, striking her legs from under her and knocking her unconscious. The mole crouched down and felt around until he found the girl's limp body, pulling it onto his shoulder with amazing ease.

"You've got a meeting to get to."


	20. Chapter 20

_Disclaimer: I still own nothing except a huge pile of text books and a laptop._

Chapter 20: Waking

Somewhere far away on either side of the forest two young girls woke up alone and terrified. Somewhere further still a dark figure raged. Closer to him... well that was just a mass of fear anger and-

Splendid shut that part of his mind down and opened his eyes, pulling his senses back down to the traditional five and looked up at the person who had agreed to watch over him. Nutty was slumped by a tree, his eyes half open, giggling more than an entire asylum. Splendid smiled.

"It's good to know I can count on you then." He stood to his feet, slamming his hand into tree beside the other squirrel sending a shower of splinters to the ground.

Nutty's eyes flicked open, spinning to focus on Splendid, "Well if you can't trust me who can you trust?" He giggled again, "If you didn't," He cleared his throat and slipped into a terrible accent, "_What would our mother think?"_

Splendid glowered at him, "Don't mention that, it's been trying to get into my head for the past hour."

Nutty's smile widened, showing far more of his yellowed, tombstone teeth than anyone wanted to see, "I know, you talk in your sleep." He laughed.

And Splendid threw him through a tree.

As Nutty stopped giggling for enough time to pull himself to his feet, Splendid heard something, over the sounds of the others' fitful sleeping someone was talking to themselves in one of the tents, and softly crying.

Splendid made for the tent, Nutty however somehow beat him to it, blocking the door and putting a finger on his lips, his eyes bulging. "Shh. Sometimes people just want to be alone."

Splendid raised an eyebrow, lifting the green squirrel off his feet with no apparent effort.

"I just read the minds of everyone in the nearest forty miles, I can tell that this is not one of these times and-"

"-And you want to look like a hero." Nutty's voice was flat for once, "Believe me Splendid, I don't need- what is it seventeen senses now- to know exactly how your mind works." He tilted his head back and gulped down another mouthful of candies collapsing into laughter, "Come on give me some credit."

Splendid swore quietly, torn between crushing Nutty's head or dropping him, eventually he decided on the latter, if Nutty died neither of them would exactly be able to go home this Christmas.

The superhero stepped quickly over Nutty and into the darkness of the tent, almost tripping over the small figure bundled up near the entrance.

Splendid groaned, not the best entrance, before turning to face the tents occupant. The woman looked quite small to him wrapped up in a ball like that, quivering and sobbing. Splendid bent down next to her and gently wrapped an arm round the woman, cringing as sharp quills broke on his arm and fell to the tent floor.

"Are you okay ma'am?"

The woman just whimpered, if Splendid hadn't heard her talking earlier- or spoken in a voice that could have woken the dead- he would have assumed she was asleep. He sighed, he wasn't going to get any response this way, he always hated the alternatives though.

Splendid slowly closed his eyes, concentrating hard on something very far away and very small. The thing got closer for a second, before snaking away with incredible speed. Splendid focused more, catching up with it, falling on it, in to it.

And suddenly that thing was a river, flooding through Splendid's head and throwing themselves at him in random order.

Three miles beneath him a nest of ants was building another tunnel. Further to his right some other camp seeped both rage and order. Two miles away-

He focused more, pulling himself in closer. Something was still asking what his mother would have thought, another person was dreaming of two children they barely remembered the names of. Behind him Nutty's mind was it's usual mash of chaos and candy.

And infront of him? Splendid was hit by fear first, then terror, then just abject horror and suffering. Cars, ropes, people they could all hurt him, they could twist themselves into his mind and hurt him so badly. Everything was a danger, one that he had previously dealt with by wrapping things in bubble wrap and staying in his house.

But that wouldn't work anymore. Everything was so much more powerful than him, and existed only to cause him pain and fear and...

"I told you," Someone's voice slurred as they struck Splendid hard in the head, "Some people just want to be left alone." The fears fell away from Splendid's mind as he lost concentration and he twisted his neck around to see Nutty standing behind him, "That's always been your problem you never know when to stop."

Splendid sighed, staring down at the porcupine infront of him and brushing some of the dandruff out of her hair. When he spoke his voice was softer than usual, "She's just afraid." He pulled the girl into a sitting position and looked into her eyes, which widened in shock as she tried to pull away. "It's only natural, after all she lost someone she loved, everyone she loved."

Nutty sighed, falling into a sitting position and laughing, "That girl's always been nuts."

Splendid frowned, watching as Flaky curled herself tighter into a ball in the corner, "It's more than that, she remembers her daughter's last birthday and she's still afraid of that." He watched the porcupine for a second more before tuning away, "I've been in her head and she needs help."

Nutty's smile dropped and he stared at Splendid, as if the superhero had just said the most obvious thing in the world. He mumbled something under his breath, moving forwards and raising his fist, bringing it smashing into the side of Splendid's head. Which only really served to hurt his hand but did emphasise the candy-covered squirrel's point.

"Of course she does moron, everyone does. What do you think this is?" Splendid looked at Nutty with surprise and for once this wasn't just because the squirrel had seemingly forgotten what he was saying and gone back to eating candy (which he had), but because he might just have said something (almost) profound.

Splendid closed his eyes for a moment, his mind going round and round it's usual list of comic book clichés like a hamster in a wheel. Something his adoptive father had said to him once, _'you can't always play the hero Splendid, sometimes you will lose.'_

Splendid frowned, not only did that sound like something out of a poorly written comic, it was also totally wrong. He was Splendid! Of course he could play the hero.

The superhero looked around, making sure Nutty was unconscious and Flaky was still curled up in the corner, before standing and spreading his arms. Rocketing up to a comfortable hight about a quarter of a mile above the camp Splendid was totally unaware of the massive damage he caused to the tent as he disappeared into the darkness.

He had people to save.

... ...

The light blinded her as soon as she opened her eyes, reducing the whole world to a mass of glittering shapes which sort of danced in Sander's eyes. She blinked a few times, willing the numbness in her body to disappear. When it didn't she was forced to open her eyes again and concentrate on trying to make sense of the mass of light.

It looked like a wall of light she realised, because it was. Well, a ceiling of lights anyway. Several small round bulbs illuminating clean, but slightly off-white tiles. Having figured this out Sander turned her attention to the rest of the room. The room seemed a bit foggy, wavering and shimmering like it was underwater making it very hard for her to focus on. Eventually though Sander worked a few things out, first the room appeared to be some sort of hospital with beds lined the opposite wall. There also appeared to be a number of machines set up opposite, no doubt all with complex and important uses. The next thing she noticed was herself, a blanket had been pulled over her but the arm she could still see appeared to be covered in bandages with a strange butterfly ended needle pushed into it.

The final thing she noticed is probably what she should have seen first, a man in a stained white coat was sat in a chair watching her quietly, clicking a pen against his clipboard in a monotonous rhythm that had somehow fallen in time with the bleeps that come out of the machine next to Sander. He saw her looking back at him and his eyes quickly moved back to his notes, he consulted them for a second before looking up, smiling kindly. Waving a hand at her when she tried to move. Everything about the man just seemed to echo 'medic'. This, Sander recognised, was a man who had spent his life stitching people back together, like the doctors back home. Home!

The thought of home, of her brother made Sander struggle against her blankets, trying to throw them off, to rush out of this room and find Stanley and get out of this unfamiliar place now.

"Don't try to sit up, even if you could I wouldn't advise it." The doctor frowned, his voice had a sort of rushed quality which made it almost impossible for Sander to understand it in her current state, "You'll be just fine here while your injuries heal." He consulted his board again, "Just how does a young girl manage to break so many bones anyway?"

Sander thought about that for a second, well less than a second, because one far, far bigger question was throwing itself around in her mind, blocking out every other unimportant thing and just screaming for her to ask it.

"Where's Stanley?" Her voice came out barely more than a whisper, so Sander had to repeat herself when the doctor leaned in to listen.

"I assume you mean the boy you were found with." The doctor consults his notes, "I'm afraid I'm not sure what happened to him." He paused for a second as he watches Sander's expression, "I'll go and find out, you just wait here."

Sander watched as the man left, disappearing down the rows of beds till he turned a corner out of her sight. For a second she could almost imagine herself trusting him, but that look in his eyes- the exact same expression that that soldier had had, the one who had pretended to be kind to her.

She couldn't help but remember the knife he'd thrown into the anteater. That was enough to tell her what she should have known from the start.

She couldn't trust anyone, when push came to shove they were all out to get her.

Sander struggled to move again, when whatever was mixing up her mind wore off she'd leave without hesitation. After all they couldn't keep her here, she had promised herself they'd get home and they would, no matter how much stood in her way.

... ...

Somewhere else in the woods the other girl that Splendid had sensed woke only seconds after Sander (although she would never know that). Sonia's eyes were too heavy to really register anything, she had to rely on the vague thoughts spiraling around her to tell her that she was awake. Even then she wasn't sure.

It took at least an hour for even faint impressions of movement to make it into her brain. When they did they seemed to work like snails taking an age to tell her exactly what she was seeing. Eventually the shapes around her arranged into figures, those figures into people, those people pulled themselves into-

The boy infront of her, watching her with a smile on his face, he made her shiver. It wasn't the constant giggling, nor the staring vacant eyes although normally these would have made her skin crawl. No it was that striped scarf the boy wore that worried her, something about it was familiar and in this dark environment just felt _wrong_.

The boy watched her face for a second that felt like an eternity, then his smile twitched again and he scrabbled in his pockets drawing something out and leaning very close to Sonia's face. By the time Sonia's brain had gotten round to telling her that the boys eyes were different colours the boy had already drawn back and disappeared somewhere into the tents shadows.

Sonia's mind however was starting to work faster now. She was finally able to notice the world around her properly, the room was full of movement now, more of the figures she'd seen earlier had now become the twisted dark shapes of creatures in tattered lab coats, bustling around most of them merely ignoring her.

The next thing she realised was she was strapped down, unable to move positioned as if she were standing to attention. She blinked slowly, trying to dismiss the last of the lingering fog which hung around her mind, trying to focus on the throbbing pain in her head just to stop all feeling slipping away again.

And as she did so she heard the voice in the back of her head, quiet and exhausted as if it had been dragged through just as much as she had. But even then it still sounded angry to her.

"_Well here we are. Trapped. What are you going to do about this now?"_

And the answer formed in her mind, slowly, slowly like a huge lumbering elephant is crashing through her mind, slow but deliberate forcing all other thoughts out. Sonia looked out at the room through heavy lidded eyes and she smiled as best she could, whispering to the thing in her head.

"We're going to get out. And if you won't help I'll do it myself."

Sonia felt the voice in her head frown, _"There may be a problem with that." _Sonia would have asked the voice what it meant but before she did the reason became obvious.

Infront of her forming out of the darkness, out of yet more shapes her mind was only now consciously making sense of...

Her world swam for a minute and Sonia felt that familiar stab of fear that she had been pushing down somewhere all this time flared up. Sonia's mind was suddenly awake, suddenly jumping around for other options, unable to even here the speech that voice somewhere deep inside her was no doubt giving.

Sonia felt the world drop out from under her, as she stared into one bright blue eye, which would have been handsome if it weren't so merciless.


	21. Chapter 21

_Disclaimer: I borrowed elements of this fic from everywhere, I read an old fic with a story like in which Flippy and Flaky had a daughter and I thought 'I can do better than that' and so I don't own this story, no I 'researched' it from a variety of sources. God bless those people I aspire to beat._

Chapter 21: Placebo

The lamb's world had always been a little fractured but now it seemed to be falling apart like a jigsaw puzzle it's owner had got tired with. Pieces of reality and nightmare slipped seamlessly together so she could never really know when she was awake and between them both the man came back to stand right behind her.

"What are you doing just lying here? Do you really think that will achieve anything? Why don't you just finish them all here? What would your mother think?"

Lammy whimpered again at the sound of that voice, normally he would have been kind, gentle, supportive she remembered the times that he'd helped her and... But being out here scared him and, well... She tried to turn further to see Mr Pickles clearly, but as she turned a stab of pain shot through her chest, where she was sure that horrid blue blur must have broken something. Lammy winced and a pained bleat escaped her lips which raised a sly chuckle from the figure next to her, who twirled his moustache and leaned down on the little lamb's shoulder.

"Aw, does it hurt? Why don't you just keep your eyes on what's going on? What would your mother think?" Lammy felt a gentle hand guide her head back to face forwards, she fought against it for a second before relaxing. What was she thinking, it wasn't like Mr Pickles would ever hurt her. She smiled more now and could ignore the pain more easily when he was there. So she just watched the events unfolding around her with only mild interest.

In the centre of camp was yet another campfire and around it the others had arranged themselves in closely huddled groups, staying as detached from the others as possible while still trying to make their voices heard.

Handy was the one talking at the moment shouting and motioning violently with the stumps of his arms in response to something Lammy was sure the caveman had said (although she hadn't heard him speak). Even as far away as she was Lammy could hear every word Handy said though.

"No! I'm not just going to sit here and do nothing!" The beaver took a step towards the centre of the circle, "I'd burn down this whole damned forest if it'd get my children back and I'm not going to stay here while some freaking insane general from a war that ended years ago murders them." This last comment raised a yelp from some of his audience, notably his wife. Handy turned back to face her and for a second his eyes still sparked with overflowing fury, then his expression softened, he stepped back to Petunia's side, wrapping his arms around her and whispering something to her to calm her.

His show of anger was not forgotten by the rest of his audience though, a voice from further from the fire immediately rose up, "What are you planning to do then?" Giggles frowned at the back of Handy's head, with that look she usually reserved for Disco Bear but which had become a nearly permanent fixture on her face the past few days. "Wander around in the forest forever until we all die?" She rose from where she had been leaning on Cro-marmot's ice cube and began to move towards Handy, "Do you have any idea where we are anyway?"

Handy turned to face her, his face set in his usual scowl, "Are you saying we sit here waiting for my children's bodies to turn up. Is that your plan?"

A look of annoyance flashed across Giggles' face for a second, "No I'm just pointing out that without Flippy here to navigate we're screwed. Unless you plan to rely on that," She pointed angrily at Nutty, who had collapsed once again in a pile of twigs and his own drool, "Or do you just think if we keep walking for long enough this army will just magically appear?"

"It's a damn side better than just sitting on our butt waiting for that idiot of a soldier to turn up again."

"And what if Flippy finds them and comes back to tell us and we're gone?"

Handy grimaced as if it were obvious, "He can find them he can find us." His voice had risen even louder than before now, taking on a sound as if he were trying to hurl each and every word at Giggles' head and break her skull with them.

"And if he can't?"

They were barely a meter apart now both of them glaring at each other with no-longer concealed rage. Handy's voice seemed to be growing still louder, "Then he's a pretty lousy scout."

"At least he was better than you," Giggles didn't seem to notice the new wave of fire building behind Handy's eyes, "All you've done is yell at the sky and make idiotic threats to trees."

Handy's arm stubs were quaking now, "At least I have a reason to be here. Why'd you even come along anyway? You've got no kids, no family. Hell I don't even know why the heck we're even-"

His speech was cut short as Giggles' fist collided with the beaver's face, almost knocking him off his feet as he stumbled backwards trying to clutch his bleeding nose in his non-existent hands. Petunia gave a little yelp as her husband almost fell over her, struggling to get his balance and cursing with a volume and vocabulary that would have impressed anyone not already familiar with Handy.

As for Giggles, she moved forwards to strike Handy again but immediately found Pop and Cuddles' arms wrapped around her wrists, holding her in place. Cuddles tried to calm her but the damage had already been done, it was amazing that it only took a few minutes for them to calm her down enough to release her arms. And from the glares she and Handy gave each other it was a miracle that one didn't kill the other right there and then.

"Aren't miracles over-rated? Isn't it all such a shame? What would your mother think?" Lammy was sure the man beside her directed the last one at Giggles, it would make sense at least. She found herself wanting to laugh, it was just funny to see them all like little babies arguing over food. She watched them for a second more, running around and arguing, before she could contain her mirth no longer, breaking into a quiet, almost hysterical laughter.

Someone in the group must have heard her because the next thing Lammy knew someone was bending down infront of her carefully to check if she was okay. The figure, Pop her mind told her quietly, raised a hand and clicked his fingers a few times near Lammy's face. Lammy tried to bring her laughter to a halt but it kept on tumbling out of her, louder now and attracting the attention of the others.

Some of the people by the fire began to move towards the tree Lammy lay against, but Pop raised a hand and motioned them away, his face morphing from mild annoyance to a more sympathetic expression.

"It's good to see at least someone can still laugh." He turned away to sit next to her, almost sitting on Mr Pickles (Lammy pulled her friend out of the way with a quiet yelp) and sighed, "This whole mess is gonna kill everyone of us, if the forest doesn't get us we'll rip each other to shreds." He laughed sourly, turning back to Lammy- who had run out of breath and finally stopped laughing. "So I'm glad at least one of us has the right attitude. This whole damn thing is someone's idea of a sick joke and you know what?" Pop's face had darkened now and he seemed to be talking to the world in general now as opposed to just Lammy, "I'm not gonna take it!"

Pop seemed to have entirely forgotten Lammy was there now, his voice deteriorating into quiet angry mutterings that almost exactly matched Handy and Giggles'. Lammy forgot him too in a second, as a little jab of pain stabbed through her stomach. From where he sat in her hands Mr Pickles had twisted around to face her, that smile of his stretching from ear to ear.

"Well what are we going to do now? It's not like you can just get up and move yourself like this can you? And do you really think your_ friends _are going to help you?" He gave a quiet laugh and tutted, "What would your mother think?"

... ...

Sonia's eyes flickered slightly as they opened again, slowly her mind came back into focus again working out the shapes around her far quicker than it had the first time and reeling through its usual conversation with itself. Finally- and as usual- it came to the conclusion that she was in trouble, more so this time since that huge beaver was standing infront of her this time.

The head medic watched Sonia's eyes for a second, shining a small light into her face before turning back to the people behind him and muttered something that Sonia didn't understand. Then, seeing the confused look on a small group of his medics' faces, translated, "Definitely confused for the time being." He looked over to a figure in the shadows that Sonia was sure was the Tiger general, "I can bring her round if you like, fully this time."

The general growled something and Gregor nodded, stepping forwards he reached over for a syringe. Sonia could only watch as the beaver reached back and pushed the syringe into her arm, watching her eyes closely he pushed down with his thumb and the medicine disappeared.

Instantly Sonia's world jumped into bright, simple focus. Suddenly she could make out all of the figures infront of her, the mangy, wrecked bodies of the medics and behind them the tall, powerful form of the tiger general. She felt herself flinch just watching the creature walk closer to her, something about him made the simplest action look terrifying, made the nightmares that had woken her sweating and screaming seem like silly childish games.

"It's good to meet you again," The tiger general's voice was quieter than she'd expected, than she remembered, as if he were talking to someone he had known for a long time, "To be honest I had hoped that I would have forgotten you but that has unfortunately proved impossible."

Sonia's head felt stable now but she still had no idea what the general was talking about, somewhere in her terror-addled mind one obvious question made its way through "What am I doing here?"

The general stopped his prepared speech for a second and looked more closely at Sonia, a slight frown crossing his face, "Why are you here?" He leaned in so his face was only a few inches from Sonia's, his voice barely a whisper of rage, "Your here because you ruined everything, every plan that was made, every mission put into action, you dismantled them all. You got me thrown out of the army and now," His voice suddenly rose to so loud that it forced Sonia to flinch and shut her eyes, "You just won't leave me alone!"

Before Sonia could even so much as think of a reply the tiger general had pulled away, slamming his metal claw into one of the tables behind the board Sonia was strapped to, his voice rising horribly again, "When I dream you turn them into nightmares, and when I wake up your still hanging over me." His grimaced at the thought, turning to Gregor and barking out an order in that strange language Sonia had heard the commander use before.

Gregor sighed and stepped forward, raising another syringe and looking down at Sonia, annoyance written over his face, "The general says he can't keep speaking to you right now Soldier. For now he's satisfied just to know your taken care of." Sonia didn't like the emphasis he put on the last part, but she could do nothing as Gregor pushed the second Syringe into her arm and depressed the plunger.

Sonia's head span instantly, her vision blurred and the world suddenly seemed to have tilted to one side, she was sure if she could have she would have fallen straight into the wall. The last thing she heard was Gregor's complaints about people 'not appreciating brilliance' and 'hard work' then her hearing deteriorated into just a series of in distinct sounds. For a moment her brain still struggled to make sense of itself, before giving up and just letting her fall into unconsciousness.

... ...

A placebo. That's what Toffee had called it when she'd asked, so that was what Lucy thought about. A medicine designed to make someone feel better when in reality it did nothing to aid their recovery in itself. People used them a lot for psychological illnesses Lucy assumed. After all what other cure was there? But this was hardly what she had expected when Toffee had told her about them.

She watched as her friend rapidly lost consciousness across the room and felt bile rise in her throat. She tried to blink away the images that formed in the back of her mind when she saw things like this, images of the death and horror that had already infested her head. It could have been worse, she reminded herself, at least the tiger general had left.

She wasn't sure how long she was there for, frozen to the spot just letting the same thoughts cannonball around in her head, but the next thing she knew Toffee was standing infront of her, one hand stuffed deep into his coat pocket, the other resting lightly on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" He didn't get a reply, but something about her expression must have told him, he frowned slightly, "The placebo?" This gained him an annoyed glare, "Sorry, her name was..." A look of concentration crossed his face and he giggled quietly, "Sonia right? Funny name..." A distant expression crossed his face before Lucy pinched his wrist lightly, pulling back to reality, "Ow. Don't worry, we'll get her out soon."

Lucy smiled at this, at least until a quiet laugh cut her off, "You really don't know why Gregor had that girl bought here do you?" She turned as quickly as she could to see that hideously gaunt skunk sitting on a chair behind them, resting his feet on an operating table. Dale sighed and leaned forwards, resting his hands on his knees and panting slightly.

"A shame," He laughed, "It's a good story too." He watched the looks of suspicion both children gave him but carried on regardless, "You see back earlier in the war there was this unit, enemies side unfortunately. Damn efficient too by all accounts," He leaned back and coughed before continuing, "I mean these guys were monsters. There were about twenty of them to start with and to be honest every single one of them were one man armies. Especially their sergeant, he took out an entire base by himself I heard."

Lucy glanced over to Toffee, to see a look of shock pass over his face, whatever it took to take out a base it was clearly impressive. Toffee flinched as Dale recommenced his speech tilting his head back and emptying a handful of candies into his mouth.

"These guy were legends, until they all died." Dale's voice remained level, as if he were talking about the weather and not the deaths of soldiers, even if they had been on the other side, "Well almost all, the last three apparently went down at the battle of Talaghan San Ag, that Sergeant of theirs went nuts apparently, it was quite the show down and since then well the general's never been the same." He glanced slightly to both sides after he said this, checking if anyone had heard him before continuing, "And it just so happens that he'll do anything to reassure himself that the Sergeant's locked up safely somewhere and that your friend looks enough like the guy to persuade him."

Dale paused for a second, watching the children's faces (most particularly Lucy's face) as his words took effect, then he leaned back further laughing, "Well fancy that, the mime doesn't even seem surprised." His laugh reverberated off the canvas walls and seemed to Lucy to be amplified a thousand times, "Now I really am considering my earlier offer, I'd be interested in hearing what you have to say."

Any other time Lucy probably would have backed away, would have frozen, but right now that part of her found something worse. She had thought of the general as the thing that would meet her should she ever find her way to hell, but to think of something that could scare him was... To think it was so close to her friend that it would fool him... She couldn't describe what it was.

A small smile crossed her face before she even knew what she was thinking, but something about this was so familiar, so simple. If someone had asked her if she knew one thing that was like her friend but terrified her she knew exactly what her answer would be.

The smile on Lucy's face grew now seeing that Dale had stopped concentrating on her and Toffee was now lounging in the corner smiling, like he was a thousand mile away but other than that appeared fine. She could feel a plan coming together in her head, it wasn't complete yet and she could see a thousand ways it could go wrong, but it wasn't like she had much choice.

Even so she smiled, it felt good to have something to hope for Lucy realised, especially after so long.


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: I really must apologise for the lo-ooooo-ng wait, I got sidetracked by exams and managed to destroy my computers major programs (hence the huge delay). But I really must thank xXXcuddly kittehsXXx for reminding me that this fic still exists and reminding me it's not over. Thanks to everyone else who reviewed as well all much appreciated. I've had this half written out for a while I just needed a little deadline to motivate me to finish it.  
**

**Also **** xXXcuddly kittehsXXx** I see it more as Flippy's war side as opposed to Flippy's outright evil side, he's a bit unstable anyway and needed it to survive but once he created it it never went away so he's stuck with a person (inside his head) who can't live without war. But yeah point taken that he does do some really evil things because of it.  


_Disclaimer: I do not own HTF. I am currently working on an incredibly suspiciously similar project Happy Friends Tree, no one steal my idea._

Chapter 22: Silence

It took at least a week for the doctors to let Sander stand, they said it was a precaution to avoid any more injury. Their real intention was clear though, they didn't want her to leave, they were just pretending to be friendly so they didn't have to feel bad about imprisoning a child.

No one had told her where Stanley was yet.

Twelve days after the battle in Deadwood Village- as far as Sander knew, she was no longer sure of dates, she was sure they were changing them too quickly to mess with her head- the girl stood in her hospital room trying to find a way out. She was sure she could have fitted into the vents, if she wasn't hampered by this crutch she still had to lean on. She was sure that they must have done something to her foot, injuries like that couldn't take that long to heal.

She gave the walls an experimental tap, it confirmed they were solid, she looked over the room for the hundredth time, blank white walls, green carpet, white ceiling. She could count the items of furniture in here on one hand, bed, chair, desk, nightstand. She sighed, nothing useful. She supposed she could have swung the chair, maybe even the nightstand, but the crutch put and end to those fantasies. As did the bandages, they were the worst part, they covered her right arm from wrist down to shoulder and looped down across her chest to the place just above her stomach were it hurt to touch. Bandages wrapped around her head and covered her cheek. The bandages made even opening the door of her room impossible for her.

Sander thought about this for a second and the dark thoughts that had been circling her head like angry vultures descended.

"_You'll never get out of here_," They told her, "_You probably won't even be able to run ever again."_ As soon as one voice stopped another would start, not giving her a chance to think, _"And even if you do, do you honestly believe you'll find Stanley." _They all started talking at once all, disturbingly, in her own voice, "_You'll be trapped here forever, and when they realise you know their plan, they'll probably take you apart_."

Sander gulped and returned to hammering on the wall with as much strength as she could muster, "_They'll just shut you up". _Her fists made the same impact every time. None. She cursed, "_Then they'll probably kill Stanley you know, just to spite you." _

That was it. Sander threw herself at the wall, screaming every curse and insult she'd ever learnt from her father right at those bastards who dare keep her here.

Her weight came down on her injured foot and she pitched forwards, her crutch falling away and clattering onto the floor. She scrabbled at the wall, trying to keep herself up but falling none the less. She whimpered as her injured arm was pinned under her chest, she bit back tears but the damage was done.

"Are you okay kid?" The voice from behind her was slow and measured. Sander tried to turn her body over as she heard the door creak open and was rewarded with a stab of pain. She blinked away more tears and swallowed a scream, before someone gripped her firmly under her left arm and pulled her to her feet. "You need to be more careful miss. What happened, did you trip?"

Sander reached out her hand and gladly took the arm that the man offered her, limping over to the bed and sitting down heavily on it. She took a slow breath and mustered every bit of self-control she could she forced what she hoped was a shaky smile onto her face and nodded.

"Yeah, thank you for your help doctor." She had to bite back the anger that rose in her throat even as the words escaped her mouth, how dare this man just stand there and smile. How dare he keep her from her family, her home. He was one of them, she wouldn't have been surprised if he was the cause of all of this. If he was keeping her from her little brother she'd...

"You were mumbling in your sleep last night kid, are you sure nothing's wrong?"

The question shocked Sander for a second, she was sure she must have flinched but the doctor's smile didn't even twitch. He knew something, damn it, she couldn't let him know anything, she could only imagine what he'd do if he got what he wanted. Sander panicked for a moment, trying to imagine just what this man wanted, she hadn't even told him her name so it could be anything. The thought's that had been knocked out of her head by the fall resettled and she only just managed to avoid disappearing into a mass of panic and terror.

"N-no," She managed to blurt out, hoping she didn't sound too obviously scared, "I'm fine."

The doctor's smile flickered a bit this time and what she almost believed was genuine worry crossed his face, "Okay, have you remembered anything yet?" He lifted a clipboard and a pen from the floor by him and started to write, "Let's start with something simple, what's your name?"

This one was easy for Sander, she'd been practicing her response to questions like this all day, between searching the room for a way out. Leave a short pause and pretend to concentrate, try to look suitably confused, then, "I-I'm not sure. I think-," then pause, stammer, and mumble the rest. It was simple and it seemed to fool all of them so far, this so-called doctor was no exception, he frowned for a second before scribbling something quickly and reeling off the usual following questions. All of these questions met with similar answers and finally the doctor finished, putting down his pen and smiling at Sander.

"Okay, thank you. It's a shame you don't remember anything, obviously call us if you do and," He stood and crossed to the door, looking back to make sure Sander was still gripping her crutch in her good hand, "I'll have them send you dinner in a few minutes and," He sighed, "Just don't push yourself too hard and don't worry about that boy you asked about, I promised after all."

The doctor left, apparently not noticing the sudden deterioration of his patient's mood. Sander openly cursed herself, why the hell had she told them about that. Now she was sure why the doctor had smiled so much, he was just toying with her now, they obviously had what she wanted.

Sander waited there for what seemed like an eternity, sitting on the edge of the bed trying to ignore the fact that she couldn't move without that stupid crutch. Eventually her dinner came, a plate of sandwiches a slice of some type of cake and a glass of water, nothing that needed cutlery, nothing that would need more than one hand to eat.

For some reason that crushed Sander, she pushed her food off the tray she'd been given, watching it hit the floor and sink into the carpet, along with the tears that poured down her face.

She'd broken her promise to Stanley. She could barely walk, she was struggling even to stand. She'd never find a way out. Sander, who had only half an hour ago been searching every crack and inch of this room for a way out, found herself just sitting there as what felt like hours passed.

She had reached her limit she realised, she had literally run out of options when this whole thing had started, she was totally and utterly cornered. Somewhere in her head a small voice told her it was time to give up.

And the rest of her brain told Sander the only thing she was still sure of.

"_Not until I find my brother."_

... ...

The camp was quiet. Cuddles wouldn't have minded a few seconds peace, but it had been silent for hours and it was keeping him from sleeping.

It wasn't just the quiet though it was the whole atmosphere, after Giggles and Handy's argument the camp had split up it seemed. Some siding with Giggles, the rest with Handy and Cuddles trapped in the middle. He hated it, he couldn't stand silence. Sure five minutes was fine but every night, for hours on end Cuddles had to endure this endless silence. Even during the day people barely spoke and Cuddles knew there was no way he could take it. He wanted to yell to break the silence anyway he could.

Cuddles drew in his breath to shout, then thought better of it and turned back to the camp, he might as well try to get some sleep instead of wasting time worrying- of course he'd end up doing both anyway.

He had just about got back to the tent when it dawned on him he was being followed and not well come to that; it surprised him that he'd not noticed it before. Still Cuddles had never been that cautious, you'd die anyway whatever happened so why not throw caution to the wind and just have fun while you were here? Even so he stopped, shifted his weight into a better position, no good taking chances when you could actually die.

Whoever was following him obviously didn't notice as they kept coming near (now he knew they were there it was painfully obvious, practically every step was a crash) he frowned, planning out his attack (and defense if he needed one).

He waited. Waited until he heard a footstep an arms length behind him. Then he twisted around raising his leg for a spinning kick.

Unfortunately for Cuddles his opponent chose that exact moment to trip over there own legs. And Cuddles had sort of be planning for his attack to connect with something a bit more substantial than thin air. Thanks to this the yellow rabbit found himself sprawling across the ground, which really wasn't that dignified for a black belt.

It also meant that had the person following him wanted to hurt him there would have been plenty of time to do it while he was dazed. Which didn't really register in Cuddles' head as he twisted around as soon as he could and lashed out with his right paw. The thing that did register was the shriek that followed as his _attacker _scrabbled away receiving a glancing blow to the shoulder. Which did a lot more damage to Cuddles than it did to the girl who'd been following him.

The small quills in his paw however did finally help Cuddles focus on the person who had been following him. The porcupine looked even smaller in the dark, like she was trying to fold herself into the shadows and just disappear. The look in her eyes could only be described as shell shock and the mass of quills and dandruff which made up her hair just made her look still worse. All in all she looked like some terrified little kid.

"I-is it gone?" Cuddles could barely hear what Flaky said, still the point was obvious. The yellow rabbit pushed himself back to his feet and wrapped his arm around the woman's shoulder, all before he'd thought about... Really he should have stopped to think of something comforting to say. Suddenly he found his brain just froze. How on Earth were you meant to help someone who was scared of _chicks?_

In the end though he didn't really need to say anything, after a few seconds of staring at him with a mingled expression of surprise and terror Flaky's eyes filled with tears, she wrapped her arms around Cuddles and just pulled him close to her. Trying to take any shelter from the nightmare around her.

In the end Cuddles had to admit there was something to be said for silence.

After all he didn't say a word until Flaky fell asleep, the first sleep she'd had in weeks that wasn't full of thrashing or terrified whispers.

Now if only all their problems could have been put on hold so easily.

Silence had a place, but it wouldn't get them anywhere soon.


	23. Chapter 23

**AN: Well another several weeks another chapter. Splendid here is everything Superman shouldn't be, I just thought it would be fun to expand his character a bit since I think all that's come across so far is his showmanship and his violent sense of justice. Thank you to everyone who reviewed. **

**XXflippythe-insane soldier: I'm glad you enjoyed that chapter, I was sort of worried it would get a bit disconnected from the others due to the huge gap. **

**Helena Morpho: Once again glad you liked the chapter, I have made a special effort to focus on more than just a few main characters.**

**And xXXcuddly kittehsXXx: (I'm assuming both the named and unnamed review are yours). You should really learn not to take my disclaimers seriously, while I have considered writing stuff similar to some shows my artistic ability is awful and so I'm restricted to putting my best ideas either in fanfiction or in my head. Still your reviews are always a pleasure to read, a little confusing at times but funny once I worked out what was going on.**

_Disclaimer: You don't seriously believe you own HTF do you? Don't you know mondo media does? What would your mother think?_

Chapter 23: Planning stages

The world was only a blur as it rushed passed Splendid's face, in a matter of moments his eyes had scoured a mile in every direction. First in regular vision- nothing-, then again in microscopic- nothing-, then finally in X-ray- nothing. Splendid growled under his breath rising higher into the air and becoming a blur of blue light once again, five seconds later the forest below him had changed entirely, gone were the picturesque trees of the forest edge, here the trees were dark, huge and twisting, reaching up almost to Splendid's current height.

Good, he could use a rest. Splendid floated down slightly, resting his feet on a high thin branches and frowning. If he, the great Splendid (Squirrel of titanium, last son of Crepeta- Krypt- Some place very far away, and most awesome of small furry animals, etc, etc) couldn't find the children, then how could mere mortals stand a chance. He growled, wallowing for a second in a sense of failure he wasn't used to feeling.

No! No, he couldn't just fail, he was Splendid, he was the world first (and best) squirrel superhero, he was a paragon of righteousness, he was a pillar of justice, he was sure that a piece of classical music should be playing at a moment as dramatic as this_..._

No music played unfortunately. Another sound reached Splendid first, something very much like a sharp knife cutting into rotten wood, accompanied by a wave of anger which assailed Splendid's accidentally activated psychic sense. His eyes flicked open in a second and before the thin twig he had ( once again accidentally) shifted his weight to could so much as snap Splendid had vaulted off his perch, quite literally through the tree (splitting it neatly in half) and taken the shortest possible course (through at least six more trees) to the source of the sound.

Splendid stood in a pile of sawdust which had been trees and surveyed his arch-nemesis.

"I expect you've come for a fight." The green eyed bear said, not even turning to face Splendid, "Well I'm sorry to disappoint but right now I don't give a damn."

Splendid's jaw clenched, true heroes didn't lower themselves to the level of insults, "You abandoned you're friends."

Flippy gave a sharp barking laugh, "No, I left a group of inferior troops to find my daughter," He struck his knife into the wood infront of him again, splitting off a piece and laying on a small fire stake, "I'm a W.A.R. soldier, my job is solitary missions."

The soldier turned to face Splendid his eyes bright green and a smile on his face, "And you know what? I found their camp, with all your big shot heroics you were set to fly right past them. I can get my daughter back."

Splendid was silent for a second, he had to admit the psycho had a point, storm the camp, save the children and they all lived happily ever after. Except- "You can't do it alone can you? If you could you'd have gone right in and killed everyone in there." Splendid took a step towards the soldier, if he'd been really thinking he would have been unnerved by the way Flippy was still smiling, but he was too caught up in his victory "You're scared to go in, aren't you."

This time it was Flippy's turn to be silent, his eyes flared with anger for a second, his face twisted, no one was allowed to say he was scared- no one- and then his smile returned, "Why do you think I waited for you, invulnerable cannon fodder, what could be better?"

* * *

Sonia was going mad, no way around that. Her head felt like a thousand larvae had crawled in her ear and turned into flies. Half the time she couldn't tell if she were awake or asleep and when she was sure, when they'd finally stop pouring chemicals into her head, the Tiger General would talk to her. He'd gloat, he'd obsess, he'd tell her about every facet of his horrific war until she was almost sure she was the green eyed sergeant that the general had been so fixated on catching herself. But now wasn't one of those horrible moments, when everything was crystal clear and she could see how dark the world she'd fallen into was. Now was one of those moments when the world seemed to blur and collapse at the edges and everything, dreams and reality, was just some garbled mess.

The fact her reflection was standing infront of her was proof of that. She struggled slightly, trying to turn away from the mirror that had been set up on the other side of the room, from which her reflection looked back at her; the same as always except with bright green eyes and a wide smile.

She tried to move again, but her neck felt like putty and all that achieved was making her head flop sideways. Her reflections head flopped too, in a mocking parody of Sonia's movements.

_'Stop just lying there and do something you pathetic kid." _The voice in her head yelled. She tried to twist around, to work out exactly where in the back of her mind the voice was coming from, unfortunately that failed and just caused her reflection to glare back at her. "_Stop messing around and-"_

After a few minutes (hours? She didn't know anymore) she heard someone enter the room, quiet and hesitant footsteps made their way across the room. Nothing like the soldiers- then who? Raising her head even enough to see the person was a herculean task for Sonia, focusing on them was impossible. Not a soldier though too small- then who?

She struggled for a name for a second... She knew she knew the name- Totally and utterly sure. The name was just on the edge of her mind, about to fall into place. It was on the tip of her tounge.

So who? The question span around her head before it too finally floated away.

Her reflection just frowned back at, its green eyes burning.

* * *

Lucy almost shivered. Almost screamed. Almost turned and ran.

It was terrifying to see her friend here, flopped like a puppet whose strings had been cut and neatly strapped to attention. She suppressed a shiver again and forced herself to turn away from her friend's limp form, trying to work out which syringe the beaver had used. This was the point where she wished she'd bought Toffee in with her, he would have done better; but he also might have been drugged off his feet and that might have killed Sonia. Besides, she reminded herself, someone had to keep watch outside and she would have attracted too much suspicion had the medics returned.

She praised her luck for a second, the hardest part of putting her plan into practice had been working out how to get Sonia out without anyone seeing. Then all the medics had been ordered to the parade ground, someone in heaven must have liked her.

With this in mind Lucy reached out for a syringe that looked promising-

Totally failing to notice the man behind her (it was probably the earmuffs) until the thin cane tapped down on her injured shoulder bringing tears to her eyes.

"Excuse me ma'am," Came a heavily accented voice from just behind her, "Would you mind explaining why you are here?" Lucy couldn't reply, "Turn this way soldier." The voice said slightly more firmly.

Lucy tried, she really did, but her feet had frozen to the floor, it was all she could do to keep herself breathing.

"That," Came the voice, "Was exactly what I expected." The cane rose off her shoulder, "Run away little soldier and next time, please, be more careful. This game is no fun without the green eyes in every shadow." Lucy heard the footsteps of the man moving away, "But it is not worth losing a war over." The click that came next was unmistakeable, a gun safety clicking off, "So run little girl... Now!"

And Lucy ran.

The man in the ornate millitary dress uniform adjusted his dark glasses and sunk back into the shadows slipping the gun back into his belt. His smile never dropped from his face.

* * *

The camp had seen more activity in the last hour than it had in days. Really it surprised Cuddles just how easy it had been to organise everyone from his place in the middle of the conflict. Just a few words to a few select people of the camp (i.e. All the ones who were sane enough to listen) and everyone was gathered in the center of the camp, everything that could be packed away was ready to travel.

The biggest worry that Cuddles had was the ice cube. Cro-Marmot had the unnerving tendency to put himself in charge of everything and for anyone who hadn't learnt better he was worryingly easy to trust. If anything carrying the caveman had taught Cuddles that that skill hadn't been dulled over the years. Which was why he needed a brilliant plan, because while he wasn't sure which side of the move/stay argument that had risen up in the camp days ago the last thing he needed was someone cleverer than he was sparking another argument.

"God, I'm wasting my time aren't I?" Cuddles muttered to no one in particular, "They'll argue over everything." He flinched at the response, he hadn't even realised the ice-encrusted marmot was behind him, "I know they're scared, but, look they just need something to take their mind of arguments and put them back where they're needed." He paused for a second, then gave the caveman a sideways, somewhat suspicious glare, "You actually agree? Okay good."

The next few minutes ground by in a mix of revised plans and occasional break-down. Cro's were more likely to work than Cuddles' that much was true, but mainly because they operated on a 'get my daughter out and kill everyone else policy'. The yellow rabbit was sure, but he would have felt safe betting that the stress was getting to the thousand year old caveman even more than it was to him. He wondered why he hadn't noticed that before.

Still he was fairly sure by the end they had a workable plan, he wasn't sure how he'd convince the others though.

By the time he'd got outside the tents he'd decided just to wing it, because he worked best under pressure and he was sure to come up with something.

Then everyone stared at him and he froze.

Make that worst under pressure.

"Um, hello everyone." Cuddles' voice came out a lot quieter than he hoped it would, a lot more wavering too. "We all know this had gone totally out of control... And, and..." Oh, he wished he'd made notes, "Um, and we, we all know we've got to save the children." He saw some of them flinch at this, most of them started to pay him their first real attention now. Except that squirrel at the back who had been watching with a look that was equal parts of curiousity and confusion, as if Cuddles were the most interesting thing he'd ever seen but he wasn't sure what he was looking at. It was a bizarre fusion and very disconcerting. Still Cuddles chose to take confidence from the fact that Handy seemed to have stopped glowering from next to his wife and was leaning forwards, completely failing to disguise the eagerness on his face.

"Well, what I mean," Oh for the love of God he told himself just say it, "A-All this arguing isn't helping at all. We're just yelling at each other because your stressed and angry and scared, but Handy's right," Giggles was glaring at him now, Cuddles gulped, "W-we can't just do nothing, I mean if we believe Flippy then every second we leave the children with those monsters is..." He stopped, lost for words, conscious that half of his friends were lost in imaginary terrors that they'd pushed down. Petunia was frantically trying to line up every blade of grass infront of her, Flaky was rocking herself back and forwards but still seemed slightly better than she'd been a few days ago.

Cro and Handy looked like they'd disembowel Cuddles personally if this didn't go the way they liked. Giggles was glaring daggers at Cuddles. He swallowed a few more times then tried to continue.

"But..." He swallowed and tried to get his thoughts in order, "But it won't help to just go out in some random direction either, like Giggles said," Her glare softened a bit, just a bit but enough to give him confidence, "So, um, I, I mean we, Cro and I came up with it last night..." He paused, "We keep base here and make sure everything's in order, but we also send out people in ones and twos to see if they can find any sign of the children." He shuffled his feet and looked around, trying to pretend his audience wasn't there, "I mean it's a big army if Flippy's right it's got to leave tracks."

Silence. It was a good plan Cuddles told himself, slow but good, kept everyone busy, got them a clue of where to go. It would help his friends. The silence stretched on. It was a good plan he'd been working on it ever since they set off, and even then he'd needed Cro's help to finalise the details (Okay maybe their was a good thing about carrying the caveman.)

"So where do we start searching." Handy's voice finally ended the silence, still failing to keep the excitement out of his voice the beaver got awkwardly to his feet working his way over to Cuddles. "Just tell me where and I'll do the whole search myself," He was actually smiling now, for the first time in weeks Cuddles imagined.

Cuddles almost smiled, he hoped against hope that he would still remember the lists he'd made on the map in his tent, "Well, I have some plans but they still need-"

He was interrupted by a splintering crash. It was all Cuddles could do to throw himself out of the way as a blue blur came speeding past him, leaving a deep trench in the ground and throwing up dust into the faces of the camp.

"I told you not to interrupt me when I'm flying!" The voice cut through the air as the dust was blown away by a sweeping blue glider arm.

"You should have gone down when I told y-" The second voice was cut off by another smashing sound and a figure was thrown out of the dust cloud and into a tree. He swore and picked himself up, growling.

The dust cloud began to settle as a blue squirrel stepped into the light. The heroic effect was somewhat ruined by the look of rage that covered his face. His eyes glowed red for a second, then he noticed the crowd staring at him. He straitened up, releasing his already charged eye-beam into the sky above his head.

"Um, obviously the stress of dealing with- with super enhanced senses."

A quiet rumble of (slightly awed) acceptance passed through the crowd. Before they quite registered what they were seeing and all started speaking at once. "What happened?" merged into "What's going on?" And eventually "Why the hell are you here?"

Flippy silenced them all with a barked order then, "We found them."

It took a few seconds for his words to echo throughout the crowd, but once they had the reaction dwarfed even the initial activity of the search.

And in the middle of people grabbing luggage, tearing down tents and hurrying to clear the mess Splendid had created, stood two figures. Flippy silently checking for injuries and weapons that had survived his flight. Opposite Cuddles, wondering just what was happening. How had it spun so far out of his control since this morning? He'd had a plan.

He'd had a plan.

It had been a good plan.


	24. Chapter 24

**AN: Hooray despite several computers exploding simultaneously this chapter wasn't delayed... Much.**

_Disclaimer: I do not own this disclaimer, I take no responsibility for any damage it causes or injury sustained because of it or people's newspapers it eats. I also don't own HTF._

Chapter 24: Underwater

"Don't worry dear."

Damn, she cursed her own stupidity.

"Your going to be fine."

She'd finally done it hadn't she, tried to duck past one of the nurses when they'd come to check on her. Tried to run. Failed of course, apparently hurt one of the staff on the way passed.

"It's just a little change of scenery."

A little spark of rage flared up inside her. Of course they'd say that, just a little change of scenery and a huge leap away from finding Stanley. She pushed it down instinctively, before realising that she had no reason to, these people were keeping her away from her brother and now-

"Where's Stanley?" She interrupted the doctor, her voice coming out rather sharper than she'd thought it would. Every time the doctor tried to start speaking again she asked the same question until she got her answer.

"We're not quite sure." The doctor said finally, "Several people here have that name, anyone of them could be..." They trailed off at the look on Sander's face, she'd always wondered why people did that.

She broke her glare off after a minute or two, stood silently and tested her leg like normal. It hurt, but less than it had. Her arm felt the same. Now her side had regained feeling it just ached. She wobbled slightly but kept standing and followed the doctor out of the room as quietly as she could. She needed time to think and the '_doctors'_had finally come to realise that silence was the closest to consent you'd get out of the girl that hadn't even told them her name.

She passed more off-white walls, some light blue doors and a few branching corridors. A left turn, right turn, second right, third right, she tried to keep it all in her head. Memorise every footstep for when she had to go back the other way. In a way she supposed changing wards (or whatever was really going on) could help her, they might let their guard down and give a partially crippled little girl a room with an easy exit. And then she'd be free.

It took a few minutes to really get anywhere, mainly because of her injuries which, while better, took more of a toll every step. Finding just an open door would be impossible but a thousand escape plans ran through her head in the time it took to get from her old room to her new one.

And all she needed was one good one.

* * *

The marching column moved far faster than it had before, now they had a direction to head and an outlet for the rage and desperation they'd been building for weeks. The main group moved with greater order than it had ever had before, the able carrying the less able and Cuddles carrying Cro-Marmot. At the front Flippy and Nutty sped out in front, tracking their targets as best they could.

Flippy's mind was on other things though, checking his many weapons and working out the easiest path for so many untrained people wasn't easy. But all of that barely served as a distraction from the two horrific figures matching his pace.

"It is good to see you have stopped running mon frère" The mouse leapt a trailing root and laughed, "We are going to end this, no?"

"Get away from me." Flippy hissed barely moving his lips as he snarled at the mouse, trying not to look at him.

"I'm sorry?" The mouse tapped his bandaged ear, "I can't hear you mon frère." Flippy turned and repeated himself more clearly, "We can't leave, sir. You're the one who bought us here. We can't go until you let us go."

"Fine." The green eyed soldiers voice came out as a shout, "You can go! Leave! Dismissed. Releaved of Duty! You. Are. Free. To. Go." The mouse watched smiled and shook his head, the chameleon bent double on the tree branch he had perched on and pointed back at the marching column, his tongue licking a trail of blood from where it had pooled in his eye.

When Flippy turned back the two soldiers had gone, it was only then that he realised he'd stopped moving. The green squirrel practically perched on his back and breathing down his neck. 'Mental' or whatever his name was held a large crossbow and that was what Flippy always focused on when he had to talk to him, the massive grin coupled with the constant non-sequiturs didn't help. He sighed and sent a silent prayer to please, please God, make this important, they couldn't waste any more time.

"What?"

"We've stopped." The squirrel was nodding madly as he spoke, well if he didn't agree with himself who would.

"Yes." Flippy kept it as brief as he could, efficiency was important in operations like this.

"We need to keep going."

"Yes." God this man was infuriating to talk to.

"We can't stop." The squirrel pushed passed Flippy, disappearing into the forest as little more than a blur.

Flippy sighed and was about to move on when the squirrel suddenly burst out of the forest his eyes focusing (for one rare moment) on a space behind Flippy, "You should try listening to him some time you know. He's good, knows what he's talking about, talks about what he knows. Probably has candy." The squirrel twisted backwards emptying another handful of candies into his mouth before disappearing.

Flippy didn't know whether it was what the squirrel had said or just someone's damned divine sense of humour that made him look round at the marching column. The mouse was standing there, smiling at him and saluting from the ranks.

"We're finishing this soon mon capitan then we'll be done. Just one more push and we'll have them running for their mothers."

Flippy smiled for a second, for a second he could see them all, all his old unit, he blinked and suddenly he was sitting in his ruined tower block near the wall of glass, his army pack at his feet and the sounds of the world around him blotted out. Good he needed to think, if this was going to finish he couldn't just run in.

In the marching column the green bear blinked his clear eyes before forging on ahead. His daughter needed saving and if his darker half didn't come out when he stood in front of the last Tiger General, the man who'd ruined his earlier life and stolen his daughter...

Well then he'd snap that man's neck with his bare hands.

* * *

The world was underwater she'd decided. It sort of floated, sound was indistinct and bits of it kept bubbling out of focus. There, underwater, it made sense. Now if only she'd learnt to swim.

Sonia watched the world around her through half closed eyes, behind the mirror was Other-Sonia, another thing she'd decided on since she last thought straight, Other-Sonia could see her, moved like her and smiled all the time, it was nice having her there, something to be interested in.

Sonia, tried to move slightly, Other-Sonia flopped to the side like a half-dead fish but kept smiling (It was funny to watch really). Her arm was tingling now, that was bad.

Behind the mirror Other-Sonia tried to work out what people were saying, tried to answer some of those questions in her head.

"Everythingsisgoin-" Something something something, "-Asestothewe-" Said someone, somewhere, she thought. Other-Sonia didn't look sure, she was still smiling though, sort of. Other-Sonia thought she might even be able to see the person if she just turned her head a little. Sonia copied other Sonia's flailing movements as best she could with her arms strapped down and took a deep breath of the water around her, trying again to turn her head in just the right way.

Yes, it was that General person, the one Other-Sonia was scared of, he was talking to... Oh, she was sure she'd known the name, she'd heard it, knew it, it was... Oh, what was it and he was coming this way, picking up that, that pointy thing that made her arm tingle and forced her to think straight.

He tapped the pointy-thing a few times leant forward. "Iswonthur-" Something, "-eralwantst-" something. He pushed the pointy-thing into her arm.

Then Sonia was dragged gasping back to land. And Other-Sonia popped like a bubble.

* * *

"Everything is going according to plan sir." Said the soldier walking behind the Tiger General, "The bases to the west of us have fallen, the rest will fall." The General nodded that he had heard and approached Gregor.

"I want to talk to the Soldier."

Gregor sighed, muttered something about important works and picked up a syringe.

Lucy watched from the sidelines as one of the more friendly medics checked her arm and changed her bandages. She really didn't know why, the man looked like he could barely stand.

"Lift your arm." She lifted her good arm, the medic pushed down slightly and nodded, "And the other." If Lucy had looked at her bad arm she would have noticed that it shook as she raised it, falling back down as soon as the doctor pushed on it. The doctor said something and scribbled a few more results down but Lucy was no longer listening. Her concentration was taken completely by Sonia who had just snapped back to reality, gasping like a fish out of water.

The Tiger General smiled then, walking slowly towards the little porcupine as Gregor tried to get his large, lumbering frame as far away as he could as quickly as possible.

"Well sergeant it is good to see you again. Did you sleep well?" If Sonia said anything in reply Lucy couldn't hear her, "Such a shame. Well I thought you would like a brief little progress report. They give those on your side as well do they not? Or are you all too busy chasing your tails to get anything done?" A ripple of laughter passed through the assorted soldiers, although most of the medics just looked worried. The General waited a second before raising his hand for silence and continuing, "Your bases to the west have fallen, four of the villages that supported your army have fallen as well. Our army totals in the hundreds while you and your allies have yet to send even a skeleton of a force against us." The General dropped his eyes for a minute, tapping his metal claw against the table and shaking his head in mock sorry, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen. So sad, so sad."

Throughout this time, though, Lucy's eyes had been fixed not on the general but on her friend's face, normally when the Tiger General went off on one of his tirades Sonia's face would be merely a mask of terror. Today though, while she still looked scared, she seemed to be concentrating on something, blinking to wake herself up and capture her thoughts fully.

"They discharged you." Sonia's voice cut off the General just as he was about to say something, quiet and shaking but there, "You went mad and they threw you out."

Surprise flitted across the Tiger General's face, "I was given the mission to end the war."

Sonia pulled herself up on her restraints, wincing a little as she pulled herself up to the General's eye level, "They realised you were nuts and relieved you of duty. They gave that mission to someone else and now the war's over. You..."

The surprise drained out of the General's face, followed by rage, his metal claw smashed down into the side of Sonia's head and her head snapped to the side. "NO! That is not good enough! We can not surrender, we will not lose." He gripped Sonia's spines right at the back of her head with his one gloved hand and wrenched her face up to look at him, her eyes weren't focusing properly anymore, "Our glorious leaders weren't prepared to accept what had to be done and they threw me to the dogs! Yes! They would have had us all sold as slaves just to live for another few minutes! Correct again!" He dragged Sonia's head back and punctuated each word that followed by slamming her against the metal gurney she was tied to, "But this war is not over until I am dead!"

Finally he stepped back allowing the girl's head to fall forwards. "If you still understand me then you are to be executed at dawn." His voice has dropped to a whisper, his gloved hand raised, "A moment of silence for all the dead, please. You will soon be joining them." He turned to Gregor, "I want that bastard pumped so full of chemicals that he'll go singing to his grave."

Even Gregor stuttered slightly under the General's glare now, "S-sir I can not reasonably-" His protest were cut off when the General's metal claw gripped his wrist, followed by the unmistakable sound of bones snapping. The huge beaver fell to the ground gasping in pain.

"Did the rest of you understand me? Whoever kills this freak gets a promotion. Now get to work." The Tiger General had barely stormed out of the tent before all hell broke lose, medics reached for their little homemade projects, ready to see just how much pain they could inflict.

The chaos was halted as quickly as it had begun by a wheezing voice from one corner of the tent. "Now gentlemen, lets not lose our heads here." Dale stepped out from the shadows helping the still-wincing Gregor to his feet, "We're all intelligent people, we all have our areas of expertise, what do you say to a little contest of our own. We all throw in one days rations and by the end the man who does the most damage to the subject gets the rations. And everyone gets a go, after all where's the fun in just killing someone? That's those idiotic gun wielders jobs!"

The yell of applause that went out was deafening and Dale smiled. In that one second he had become the most powerful man in the room, and the most ruthless. When all of this was over all it would take was one badly timed accident for Gregor and Dale would be stepping into his place. On an afterthought he added, "Oh and no one actually kill her." He didn't really believe anyone had planned to but... Well he still had the occasional nightmare about the last man who had followed an order from the General that he couldn't take back! Tigers had a nasty habit of changing their minds after sleeping on something. He wasn't going to go down that route, not when he had so many things to do.

* * *

Sonia's mind couldn't sit still. Every second something new caught her eye, her concentration jumped from point to point like some deranged frog and thoughts span in and out of her mind too fast for her to even understand most. She'd heard of brain-storms but she thought her head was in the middle of a brain hurricane, sounds were deafening, colours hurt her eyes and everything felt more real than ever before, too real.

And then there was the lightening, it must have been lightening, it made bright sparks dance up infront of her eyes and forced its way into her head, laughing and whooping and screaming at her. She shut her eyes but they flicked open a second later, unable to stay closed for more than a few seconds, rolling round in her head as two marbles, barely connected to anything.

The pain was more real as well. The pain which danced along her backbone, drummed across the inside of her skull and bored into her stomach. Pain flashed across her quills and leapt the small gaps, making her limbs twist and convulse. Filling her head with fire and lights.

But her brain couldn't even focus on that anymore, her eyes rolled and found Lucy in the crowd, rolled again to settle on that squirrel with the mismatched eyes. Her mind spun suddenly back to the pain and she screamed as her eyes lost focus. She couldn't stand it anymore.

Then her mind slowed down and the world tipped back underwater, a bubbling sort of hiss coming from the back of her brain and her head filling with smoke. That was okay, though, because while it gave Other-Sonia a splitting headache it numbed everything else. Sonia smiled and let her thoughts just float away, all the debris left by the storm, all the unimportant stuff, the pictures from that book her dad had left her. By the end of the little spring clean only her name and that funny little picture of the brain with the red and green halves was left. She smiled and sort of let that thought drag, twist and spiral and shift. In her head the red side was more stretchy, it was like a big elastic band. She laughed a little and let her other thoughts drift back in, first things first her book, then her parents, then friends and all those little facts she'd learnt all neatly stacked away and safe. She leaned closer to one of them and just sort of fell.

When Sonia's eyes finally opened she was lying in what looked like a burnt tent the land around it was a flat, blasted waste. It was quite pretty real, with the deep red sunrise turning the ruined hulks into huge silhouettes. The wall of glass cut the scene in two, but for once it was quiet. No green eyes stared out. No feeling of impending doom gripped her. She just sat there gasping, shaking the flies and the water and all the other sluggish metaphors out of her head. Still the thing behind the mirror (Other-other-Sonia part of her mind supplied with a giggle) didn't come out to taunt her. So she moved on to assessing any damage.

Really, she decided, it was lucky that the medics spent time organizing. They hadn't really done any damage which wouldn't fix eventually.

Eventually though she had to move, even standing was hard after so long strapped to a gurney, she stretched and began to walk away from the glass, through the city. She passed burnt out banks and shops, but the wall of glass followed her path. A few minutes later she turned right and passed a ruined bank. It took Sonia a few seconds to realise that this road was identical to the last, in fact looking around Sonia saw all the roads were the same, the same ten or twenty buildings fitting together into square patterns with alleys heading off between the two tallest buildings every few steps. Sonia sighed, turning to head back to the tent, only to realise she had no idea which of the small side roads she'd come down. Even if she did the advancing wall of glass had sealed the way back.

And for some reason Sonia's biggest worry was the tingling itch in her arm. The tingling which was growing into a great stinging pain, spreading out through her body and shaking the entire world around her.

The tornado swept back into her mind, blowing all the neatly ordered thoughts away and pulling her out of her broken city.

Sonia's eyes snapped open, lights exploding inside her head, rhythmic flashes of pain shooting along her spine and she screamed.


	25. Chapter 25

**AN: We're moving into the final part of this story and I'm beginning to realise that there are a lot of scenes I wanted to put in which never got written. Ah well though, we'll see how many of them I can fit in.**

_Disclaimer: I don't own HTF and since I have to put this disclaimer in I barely own this story anymore._

Chapter 25: Nightmares and Daydreams

In a way Lucy was lucky that the medic core didn't leave their tent till late, the watchmen of her barrack was perfectly happy to let her wait up for a '_medic friend' _(she was beginning to get the feeling that some of the soldiers just thought of the new recruits as children under their care). She had been allowed to wait until that friend of hers left the tent, that took her till 11PM. Then she had had to hide in the shadows until the man with the cane left. By this point it was the most she could do to keep her eyes open, she thought she might even have fallen asleep at some points and cursed herself every time she lost track of a few minutes. For all she knew her last obstacle could have left and she was now just wasting her time.

Eventually though the mole in dark glasses stepped out of the tent and into the moonlight. He tilted his head slightly, smiling widely and tapping his cane along the ground gently as he walked. Lucy held her breath when she realised he was coming her way, pushed herself as far back into the shadows as she could and prayed. By some miracle though the man passed right by her, tapping lightly and smiling all the way.

And before the man had reached his tent Lucy was out of her hiding place and in through the flap of the medic's tent, they were so prone to fits of 'inspiration' at all points of the night that they never bothered to tidy or close up their tent unless they needed to return. And that was the biggest problem! She had no idea how long she had before someone found her!

Lucy tried to picture what she was aiming for, a syringe with... Yellow, yes she was sure it was a yellow liquid, or orange, maybe red. All of these coloured medicines and more were laid out on the table next to Sonia. She flinched thinking about what all of those medicines could do if she picked the wrong one, all the pain and damage it could do if she chose the wrong one.

Lucy bit her lip and considered for a moment, her hand gliding forwards and backwards over the medicines, her other hand fiddling with the end of her thick gloves. She made a decision, then looked up at her friend. The worries came flooding back, seeping into her head like water through a cracked dam and she changed her mind.

Lucy's hand moved back the other way settling on a bright turquoise solution on the other side of the gurney, not because she knows it's safe. She was sure it was not, she can remember seeing it used, remember how her friend screamed and twitched. But she also knew it wasn't fatal, Dale had said so himself, whispered it to another medic when they were watching.

She lifted the syringe and after a moments thought pushed it into her friend's upper arm.

People were always forgetting that the silent girl in the background was there, that had been Lucy's biggest advantage in all of her plans, for a second she smiled at her cleverness.

And then Sonia woke up with a scream and all her happiness drained out.

Not that this hadn't been planned for, a second layer of gloves, three coats and an extra scarf, she'd put them all on for a reason. Clumsily unstrapping her shaking friend she pulled Sonia as best she could (the girl was both larger and stronger than she was) over to one of the tables. Leaning her down she wrapped her friend in a coat, striped scarf and gloves, doing as best she could to hide Sonia's quills. She lifted her friend again, too tense to speak, silently begging her friend to help her.

It worked. Sonia yelped and pulled herself as best she could to her feet, pulling another syringe off the table and stabbing it into her own leg.

It took a few minutes, every second stretching out forever, and finally Sonia stopped spasming. She turned to Lucy and gave a shaky smile, "Anesthetic" she explained, "Won't stop it forever but it'll help." She stumbled as she stepped away from the table, falling onto Lucy's shoulder.

Lucy smiled and helped her friend to stand. They made their way out of the medic's tent, meeting one of the medics that Lucy had been dreading.

The medic glanced warily at her but seeing the stripped scarf Sonia was wearing he laughed.

"Your friend stab himself did he?" He remarked, Lucy tried to smile. By that point though the man had passed.

Good, that part of the plan had been a last minute thing, but it had worked, Toffee's scarf and coat were large enough to cover most of him, the same would be true of Sonia. If people didn't look carefully it was easy to mix up the young squirrel and Sonia, especially at night.

Lucy was flagging by now though and, by the time they made it to one of the large barracks filled with corpses, Sonia was practically carrying Lucy along instead. Lucy sat down as Sonia pushed the door open, not thinking, letting all the little worries about how well her friend was handling this drift out of her mind. She let herself drift away as well. By this point Sonia had entered the barrack and guessed what her friend wanted her to do, grimacing she climbed up one of the piles and hid herself as best she could. Lucy waited for her friend to get out of site, then leaned back and fell asleep. Yes, it would look a little odd when she was found sleeping outside a barrack full of corpses, but then again the girl who wore thick coats in summer, who never spoke and fainted all the time...

Well she was a little odd anyway, people wouldn't be too worried.

Lucy loved it when a plan came together.

* * *

A council of war wasn't exactly the first name that came to mind, especially not when the only actual soldier was missing, still that was what they chose to call themselves. It was more just a few members of the camp gathered around a fold-up table trying to come up with something that resembled a good plan.

"It's simple, if we attack them they panic and either flee or lose." Handy repeated for the fifth time as if he were explaining to a child.

Pop groaned again, taking a puff on his pipe before he replied, "Yes that might work. Or it might get us all killed, they're soldiers for God's sake."

"Then I'll die. At least my children will be safe." Handy's hand would probably have come slamming down on the table to punctuate that sentence, but since he didn't have it anymore his stump just slashed at the air.

Pop simply ignored Handy's outburst this time, nodding in response to something that Cro-Marmot had said before turning and explaining to Handy, "The problem is we don't cause nearly enough fear to the enemy, we can be almost certain that they'll fight us and kill us all. And any plan we come up with will have a similar problem." He paused, "Let's leave the overall plan for a second, what resources do we have that they don't."

Handy grimaced, pushing a stack of papers out of the way clumsily, really he was only here because he was one of the few sane people left in the group. He just wanted to stop fiddling around with details and fix a plan that got his kids back as quickly as possible. He stopped for a second, Pop was probably feeling the same, he still remembered how proud the bear had been when Cub was a baby (despite his occasional negligence), it would be killing him as well not to be able to just go blazing in. Handy pulled the papers back and glanced at the top one, "Okay, we've got eight normal adults, virtually no use in a war, myself included. Two people with army experience." He placed Flippy and Cro's papers to one side, "Only Flippy was in multiple battles though and..." He paused on a sheet, "what about Splendid, invincible, fast, strong, psychic-"

Pop interrupted him, much to Handy's ire, "Unstable, unpredictable, arrogant and unstoppable if he switches sides. Remember this is the man who injured that little lamb."

A few miles directly upwards Splendid cut off his hearing, as flattering as it was to hear a meeting that seemed to be all about him he wasn't sure that he really wanted to know what people said about him behind his back (or beneath his feet in this case).

Slowly Splendid opened up his other senses, letting emotions, UV rays and Infrared all flood into his perception. They overwhelmed him for a second, blocking out his vision in a sea of strange lights and bombarding his ears with the sounds of tiny air currents. He checked them all in that time, making sure all his senses were working, then realised he was falling. He cursed and cut his sense out one by one, including vision unfortunately, his eyes searched wildly for light as he righted himself, smashing into the ground a second later. With a wave of nausea he realised he could feel the viberations in the ground going out for at least a mile and quickly cut that sense before he was sick, bringing back his vision. He cursed again, every day, every time he had breathing space he'd practiced, since his powers started developing at the age of four. And yet still, still his powers didn't work all at once, he could turn back time, he could lift mountains, he could bake a perfect souffle with one hand, but he couldn't handle seventeen measly senses and flying at the same time. Whoever his forefather's were he was sure they would be laughing at him.

He blinked away the rage, fourteen senses plus flight, the same as every other day for the last seven months. Maybe if he put psychic sense at half-power? No he'd tried that, two months ago, that one's all on or not at all.

The blue flying squirrel was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't notice the person behind him until they spoke.

"You just crashed through my tent."

Splendid looked up for a millisecond, startled, blinked, mumbled a confused apology and went back to thinking, before realising less than a second had passed and forcing himself to slow down. "My apologies miss. Entirely accidental."

The apology though didn't sate Giggles' anger, "Well aren't you going to do something about it." Splendid muttered something, then disappeared, less than two seconds later he had succeeded in getting himself tangled in the guy ropes of the tent twice and set the thing on fire. Giggles blinked in confusion for a second, unsure whether to be even angrier or amused that her tent had just burst spontaneously into flames. Eventually she settled for the latter and picked up one of the fire extinguishers that were scattered around the camp (although it was less scattered since Petunia had got to them) and blasted the tent with foam.

"You know I just would have settled for a more sincere apology." Splendid looked down at her, confused, "Well, you sound like someone who's trying too hard to sound like a superhero." Giggles explained, "It's not all that convincing."

Annoyance flashed across Splendid's face and his fists clenched. The anger was gone in half a second though, replaced with the hero's normal proud, somewhat concerned expression, "I'm sorry ma'am I'm not sure I understand, what's not convincing?"

Giggles smiled, lifted another tent pack out of a pile of bags and tossed it to Splendid who caught it one handed. "The whole superhero act- read the instructions this time- even that expression, it looks heroic but a few seconds ago you looked like you were going to tear my head off."

Splendid blinked, not many people noticed the occasional lapses in his facade. "I'm sorry, truly, my mind was on other things."

Giggles frowned, "And right now you just totally ignored me."

Splendid grimaced, he hated people who just wouldn't accept a good person, "What do you want," He growled, his hands rapidly tying knots in the tent rope and slamming a peg into the ground with his heel, "A hero or not? If I wasn't saving people you would have died a thousand times."

Giggles sighed, "I'd prefer a person, not some character out of a comic, you're always floating around and taking command and we don't even know why you came here."

"I could say the same about you." Splendid watched a sort of surprised anger flood over Giggles, then saw that that response wasn't going to work, "I followed you to protect you all, you're not exactly traveling with the safest crowd."

Giggles thought for a second, "No that's not it, if you'd been worried about our safety you wouldn't have been so angry at Flippy and Lammy before they hurt anyone."

Splendid looked away and finished putting up the tent before turning back, "I'm trying to save my nephew okay. That's my reason, my only reason no heroic compulsions, no real care about the people around me, are you happy." The look on Giggles' face told him that, whatever she had expected it wasn't that answer, "Except that's not it either, because I'm not allowed to think like that am I?" He turned to her so quickly that she flinched, "No, because people need a hero, and since I'm the only one with anything close to superpowers that's got to be me. I can't just sit on the sidelines and let people suffer like everyone else does can I? No, because I can do something. And then because I can do something I suddenly have to be able to do everything, stop trains and prevent global warming and make sure the whole world keeps spinning." His voice was getting louder and louder as he spoke, until the tents around him shook. Giggles covered her ears and backed away from the squirrel, trying to shout over him. Splendid stopped, breathing heavily and let his anger dissipate. "Sorry, it's just I know I'm going to fail, I've spent my whole life trying to save people, trying to be the big shot superhero, something was bound to slip and now everything's gone to pieces and it's all my fault because I wasn't strong enough."

Splendid was rather surprised to find he'd bore his heart to someone, he was also rather surprised when Giggles stepped forwards and hit him in the side of his head. He didn't feel anything but it was a good gesture! Giggles sucked in a gasp of pain and cradled her hand for a second before glaring up at him, "You aren't understanding anything at all. All you talk about is how you failed, it's not your job to look after the world you know, you're not some comic book hero no matter how hard you try to be."

Splendid nodded, "I know, your not the first person to give me that speech you know, I just... I'm not a good hero, I've killed as many people as I've saved and you're trying to tell me that's the best I can ever hope for. I can't live with that while I can still save people."

Giggles smiled slightly, "You're a good person Splendid, that's all you really need to be. After all you made me feel happy, you let people forget about the reason why we're out here and just pretend that it's all a dream, you make people feel safer (for the most part) and that's a good enough thing to do. You can't very well only help when someone's life is in danger and leave them the rest of the time can you?"

Splendid nodded slowly, smiling to himself, "Thank you." A thought occurred to him and he frowned, "You never told me why you and Cuddles are out here though did you?"

Giggles smiled, "Cuddles always goes on about how people should learn to help themselves, but I don't think he really believes that. I'm sure he just felt like he needed to help his friends."

Splendid nodded again, "And you?"

Giggles looked embarrassed again, "Well, I, um, I was friends with most of the children that went missing and since..." She trailed off, apparently lost for words.

Splendid though just nodded, "I understand," He let his voice settle back into it's usual heroic tone, "My apologise for prying Miss. I shall go."

Before Giggles could respond Splendid had disappeared into the sky. The pink chipmunk stood blinking for a second before turning and heading back into her tent. She hadn't known that Splendid had a brother but come to think of it she didn't even think 'Splendid' was the hero's actual name. She sighed before settling down to sleep, hoping that her friends were having and easier time making sense of the world than she was. She hadn't managed to figure it out by the time she'd fallen asleep. She doubted she'd ever really know why she'd actually come along. Or why she still didn't have a family to call her own.

* * *

Half of Flippy's mind had always just followed behind the first, in the war his nicer half had come out only when his darker half wasn't needed, in his family his dark side had taken a back seat. Right now though he wasn't really sure which one was in charge, his soldier mentality dragged him on to find his enemy, his clear-eyed counterpart to find his daughter, both with equal vigor and the same aim. The soldier probably would have asked his comrades but clearly that wasn't going to happen. His less militaristic side decided he would ask his wife. Flaky wasn't normally the first person one went to for advice, her paranoid life view generally buried any good advice under a cloud of fear, but Flippy knew that she was often the best person to talk to, if only for the purpose of talking to someone.

He really hoped it was one of those latter occasions, but that didn't really look likely. From what he'd heard Flaky had got worse since they'd left Happy Tree Town, she'd had to be carried most of the way here by Splendid and since Flaky suffered from terrible vertigo at the best of times, especially since that plane ride... Well, it didn't bear thinking about.

Worrying wasn't getting him anywhere Flippy decided. He pulled himself to his feet and crossed to the tent where his wife sat, rocking backwards and forwards, apparently oblivious to the holes her quills were gouging in the canvas.

"Are you okay dear?" Flippy let a reassuring smile (an expression he'd had a lot of practice at over the last few years) slip onto his face.

Flaky glanced up, her eyes wide and filled with tears, before returning her gaze to the ground. When she spoke her voice cracked, "I'm going to die aren't I?"

Flippy frowned slightly, it wasn't unusual for Flaky to think something was going to kill her but it was strange for her to be so blunt. "What do you mean?"

Flaky pointed a shaking finger outside the tent, "Those things hiding in the shadows, they've been following me since we left home and then if they don't the chicks will, and if they don't," Flaky was talking faster and faster and seemed to have trouble getting the words out, "There's lightening, and drowning and cutting myself on knives, and explosions and wolves and the world seems to hate me and fire and him-" She stopped, scurrying away from Flippy as if she'd just realised that she was talking about him.

Flippy caught her in three strides (there wasn't really anywhere to go in a tent). "It's okay Flaky, you're safe. I'm not going to hurt you."

Flaky was still shaking, "B-but he..."

Flippy smiled, really smiled this time, "Flaky don't worry, you're safe. Like it or not he's me, I think even he figured that out a while ago. He's a part of me I needed years ago and couldn't get rid of and..." He paused to think, "You know I love you don't you Flaky?" She nodded, her face telling him that she didn't know why he asked, "Well he loves you as well Flaky, as much as I do. He just... He's not very good at showing it, he's scared and he's angry. In the world he lives in the war isn't over until he's dead, he has nothing else, except you. He- I'm so tired of fighting but part of me just can't stop and... You're safe Flaky, if anything comes to hurt you I, he, both of us will die before we stop protecting you and Sonia. He won't let anything hurt you, he can't, the two of you is what he's fighting for now and yes he scares you, he's cruel sometimes but... He still loves you Flaky and he'll do everything he can to keep you safe."

For a second Flippy worried that Flaky hadn't heard him, she just kept looking down and he searched for something more to say, something comforting. Just as he'd thought of something though she looked up and smiled, wrapping her arms around Flippy and pulling herself close to him. Part of Flippy tensed, it always did, but he shoved that part down and hugged his wife close.

"It's okay Flaky, everything's going to be okay. We'll find Sonia and we'll bring her back and..." Part of him was just talking to reassure himself now, "We'll be a family again, a little happy family just like you always wanted."

Flaky nodded, gently letting the fears that had been building up over the past weeks break up and float away, let herself feel safe and stopped noticing all the dangers around her.

In Flippy's case he just let exhaustion overtake him, feeling like he was back in the war all the time took so much out of him, you didn't feel tired until you stopped and then you collapsed. He let all his worries and his worst-case-scenarios go with Flaky's fears. Somehow despite his wife's insecurities and her phobias he had never felt safer around anyone, more able to forget about the war.

And God knew he needed to forget the war, because if all went according to plan he'd be going straight back into the thick of it in two days at most.

Right then Flippy was every bit as scared as Flaky was.


	26. Chapter 26

**AN: Wow these get written quickly when my internet is broken. So I don't really have all that much to say.**

_Disclaimer: I don't own HTF but I'm not even sure they're the same characters I started writing anymore._

War 26: Monsters

Sonia was beginning to think that maybe she had been better off when the world had been underwater. She'd been drugged and about to die yes, but at least she had had her reflection to amuse herself. Now she was quite literally lying in a pile of corpses and the thought of that alone should have been enough to make her scream, not to mention the smell. To make matters worse the anesthetic that she had injected herself with was beginning to wear off and the waves off pain which were now washing down her body made it very hard to stay still. Not that she hadn't managed it, pushing herself to the back of the barrack, she hadn't been noticed by any of the three soldiers who had come in earlier. Not that that made her any safer really, from what she gathered they hadn't really started searching with any concerted effort. Still she was already beginning to see holes in Lucy's plan, for one what if they simply burnt the corpses to be sure she wasn't hiding in there, what if this had happened before and this was one of the first places they checked and even if they didn't find her what was she going to eat and drink? She already felt hungry. Also she was sure it wasn't healthy to be in here, assuming she survived she might catch some horrible illness and die that way!

And the pain was really making it hard to keep still now, her left leg twitched and she clenched her fists. Sonia let herself spend the next minutes whimpering, sure that no one could hear her. Eventually the pain lessened and she could ignore it again, Sonia curled herself tightly into a ball and tried to get her thoughts back.

One thing was clear, she had to avoid being seen and she had to know help was coming sooner rather than later.

Sonia was sure she wouldn't last until 'later'.

* * *

Sander's new room was, to her dismay, much like the last one. It had the same off-white walls, the same plain wooden furniture and the same smell of disinfectant. The only real difference was the lack of any sharp objects.

To her pleasant surprise though the lock turned out to be the same. One of the few things Sander had inherited from her father (temperament aside) was his great manual skill, a few minutes with a metal shred, that had come off the side of her crutch, and a plastic fork and the lock clicked open. To be honest it had been mostly trial and error but it didn't stop Sander celebrating as she pushed the door open. Part of Sander wanted to just run out the door then, find her brother and get home. The more rational part stopped her. Running out now into who knew what would be suicide. Wait until everyone has gone to sleep, wait till night. They'll lock the doors then. They'll expect them to stay locked. She could sneak out then. Sander frowned, pulling the door closed and hoping the next person would just assume it had been left unlocked.

She spent a few seconds thinking before crossing back to her bed, she didn't really have any personal items left so what little she thought might be useful she packed away in one of the drawers of her bedside table. After a few seconds of thought she unwound a layer of bandage from around her ribs and used it to tie the small pack together in a way that let her fix it to her crutch. It would make it harder to move but she thought that her healing leg should make up for that.

The next few hours were tense for Sander, she was sure that she had nothing to worry about but... What if someone found her door was unlocked and moved her again? What if they noticed her pack when they came to give her food? What if...

Hours whirled by in a mass of similar questions, her dinner came and went, the sun fell behind the horizon and finally (at what she thought was about midnight) Sander threw off her blankets and crossed to her door. It took less time to open this time, the tumbler clicked out of place easily enough once you knew how to do it (she was sure her father would have installed something more secure). After checking to make sure no one was coming she hobbled slowly out into the hallway. Keeping as close to the wall and as quiet as she could Sander made her way to the end of the hallway paused to check cautiously around the corner, before hurrying down to the next corner.

It would take a while but she would get there. No, she'd find her brother and then she'd get out of here. She smiled to herself, they'd get out and they'd get home and then finally they'd be safe.

* * *

The group was slowing again, getting closer to their target. Half of Flippy couldn't get there soon enough. He knew his task and slipped off into the forest to take his place.

He found himself in a clearing, it wasn't very large but it was enough for him to rest. He sat on the log, closed his eyes and waited. It all seemed so familiar now, from so close to the battle, he was amazed he hadn't noticed it before.

The last battle he'd been in was like this, he couldn't remember its name now. That always struck him as strange, he remembered all the other battles and could recount every part of them at a seconds notice, but that final one was merely a blur.

The moments before that though were as clear as day, they had rested in a clearing just like this one. He had given the orders, explained the plan and Kaboom had said:

"I'm sorry mon frère, I can't hear you." Flippy's eyes snapped open just as the mouse tapped his ear with his stump of a wrist.

Flippy laughed bitterly, "So you came did you, what is this then, the last joke in your little pantomime?"

Kaboom smiled, "Non, this is the last mission. Think of it as a second chance, a chance to end this war."

Flippy sneered, he'd said it last time he'd say it again, "This war isn't over until I am dead, I am the highest ranking member of the Weaponised Animal Reconnaissance division. I am the WAR."

And just like every time, just like in his memories Sneaky would lean forwards. Yes, he was doing that now. This time though he seemed to be having trouble summoning the words, his tongue flicked out and licked the blood from his eye.

"Permission to speak freely," He gulped again, "Sir." Once again Flippy gave him permission, "Sir you aren't this war. We are a unit sir, we've fought together through thick and thin. We are the WAR. If we go down we'll go down together and..." Flippy blinked, there hadn't been an 'and' in the words he remembered. Sneaky's voice was cracked and quiet but it was there, "This time we're going to do this right, we've gone down once we- we won't again. This time we'll take that bastard to hell and make sure he stays there." And as always Sneaky leant forwards further and slammed the butt of his rifle into Flippy's ribs, it even made Flippy wince again, "Understood sergeant?" Flippy gasped and nodded, "Good. Now stop running away and let's do this properly... sir."

Sneaky slouched passed, his body melting into the scenery, Kaboom smiled and saluted, "Let's get that daughter of your's back mon frère."

The speech worked, it always did, Flippy stood and pulled his gun onto his shoulder, saluted the vanishing figures and leapt into the trees. They weren't just bad memories anymore, not just ghosts that wouldn't leave. His comrades were here now, he had another chance.

Finally this war was going to end. He'd have his family, he'd have his freedom.

And he'd have the mad tiger general's head on a plate.

Flippy's eyes flickered to green and he disappeared. This was one mission which couldn't fail.

* * *

The Tiger General's snarls could be heard from three tents over. His roars most probably reached the edge of the world. Lucy grimaced and curled herself into the corner of her tent. When the general had found his prisoner missing all except his most trusted soldiers had been rounded up and confined to their tents. It had been about four hours since then. She had run out of terror and now felt grimly calm.

She still jumped though when a heavy footstep sounded outside; she still relaxed as they passed. Almost joined in the sigh of relief that every soldier sitting in the tent seemed to give. It was odd she thought that she was the calmest person in the room, the few professional soldiers there seemed impossibly tense.

Lucy glanced over at Toffee, the squirrel had just swallowed a handful of candies but they didn't seem to be helping, his eyes were darting back and forth, not really focusing, his hands fidgeted and fiddled with his scarf. The squirrel also seemed to be sweating a lot and- Lucy looked away, determined to focus on something that wouldn't make her even more worried. Eventually she decided on her coat buttons. She twisted her collar over a few times then gave up even on that and just sat there trying not to think at all.

She wasn't too surprised when a set of footsteps went passed. She was more surprised when it was followed by three more sets. She was fully rocked out of her thoughts by a shout from outside and was on her feet even as most of the soldiers dashed out of the tent. Lucy went to follow them but one of the older soldiers turned and blocked her way.

"Sorry kid, we got a situation out here, can't have you running off and getting hurt."

Lucy frowned but nodded and fell back into sitting. She listened to the yells and running feet outside. Something had gone wrong. There was no question about that.

* * *

The marching line had stopped in a large clearing to check their maps. Still some of the members were having real trouble staying still, their enemy was so close now, this phantom they'd spent the last weeks chasing and imagining. Handy especially seemed to be chomping at the bit to get back on the move. Even he stopped though when a large case of army fatigues was thrown at his head.

"Okay people." Pop's voice echoed through the clearing, given power by Splendid who was floating just behind him, "You all know we can't just go in there, we'd be eaten alive. So we talked to Flippy, who's fought these people before and we've decided on a plan." He pointed at the fatigues, "These are uniforms from the Weaponised Animal Reconnaissance unit. Everybody put one of those uniforms on, even the ones who aren't fighting. From what we can tell the WAR regiment is the only thing that monster who took our children is afraid of. And if he's running scared we'll have less trouble." Now he looked worried, "Other than that our plans are somewhat... flexible." He frowned, "Well let's move people."

Handy grimaced as one of the others helped him into his uniform. Every second wasted was one more second that his children could be dying. He glared his way all the way through Pop's explanations on the weapons Flippy had left. He grabbed as many weapons as he could carry when they were handed around. As soon as he had those he headed towards the forest certain that only one thing in the world could stop him.

And that one hand came down on his shoulder a second later. Petunia's soft touch made even Handy's rage subside, he jolted to a halt and turned to look at his wife. Petunia looked terrified, her fists were clenched, her fur a mess, despite her constant efforts to flatten it down. A flare of rage grew inside Handy for a second at anyone who would make his wife suffer like this, then he swallowed it and tried to smile.

"It'll be okay dear." He said it with more confidence than he felt, answering the question she had been about to ask, "We'll find them." Petunia nodded and Handy passed her one of the uniforms, or tried to. His wife just smiled quickly then picked up the uniform. "They'll be fine after all Sander's a strong girl..."

His vision was blurring slightly and it took a second for him to even work out he was crying. It took until Petunia held up a handkerchief for him to do anything about it.

"Yes," Petunia laughed quietly "She takes after me. You'll find them," She said gently taking his arm, "I know you will."

Handy could honestly say he'd never felt more able, even when he had had hand. Still for some reason it was all he could do to mumble "Thanks."

* * *

Sonia's eyes were watering now, she wasn't crying, it was the smell. It was toxic, it seeped into every pore and made her quills bristle. She took another gulp of air and tried to hold her breath again. Eventually she was sure she was going to be sick.

The pain was getting worse as well, threating to overwhelm her and plunge her back into unconsciousness. She was sure she must have fallen asleep three times since she'd been here. Every time though another jolt of pain would arch along her back and drag her back to the waking world, each time more tired than she'd been before. She gulped back a scream as another spasm shot across her chest and along her face making her teeth clench and her vision blur.

Still it became bearable eventually. Sonia let herself relax slightly and tried to forget what was happening to her.

As long as she wasn't found, as long as she stayed still she'd be safe. Her mother would find her. Her father would save her. She'd be okay. It sounded so hollow in her head.

_You__need__to__save__yourself,_the voice in her head told her, _no__one's__coming__and__you__have__to__survive._ Sonia took a deep breath and let another spasm of pain shake the voice away. It didn't make the eyes go though, they stared out at her from every single set of dead eyes. All strangely green in her vision. All of them glaring at her accusingly.

She snapped her eyes closed. She couldn't look at that, it would drive her mad! She kept her eyes closed from then on. Eventually the pain faded. The ruined shells of buildings formed behind her eyelids, melting seamlessly out of the darkness.

Sonia grimaced and tried to ignore the ruined city in the hope that it would disappear. The harder she tried to wish it away though the more into focus the city came. Sonia gritted her teeth. If there was one thing she didn't need now it was the green eyed creature mocking her.

The wall of glass formed last, creeping up from the ground like ice spreading across a pond, Sonia groaned and pulled herself to her feet. This time, she had suddenly decided, she wasn't going to take it anymore. She stood as tall as she could and glared at the mirror.

"Why am I here?" She shouted at her reflection, "Why the do you keep dragging me back here?" She wasn't quite sure where her rage was coming from but releasing it was a terrific feeling, "Are you going to tell me that I'm pathetic? Or tell me to stay here while you handle things?" She stopped for a breath waiting for her reflection to respond, she couldn't see the eyes but somehow she knew they were there, mocking her, "Well let me tell you something! I've been handling this nightmare for the whole time and I've done a thousand times more than you ever will and... and..."

Sonia's voice trailed away, the eyes still didn't appear, all she could hear from behind the wall was a faint, uneven laughter. The thing hadn't listened to her. She was shaking with rage, that voice yelling in the back of her head, urging her to...

Sonia threw caution to the wind, rushing the wall of glass and ramming her shoulder into it, "Listen to me!" A crack appeared on the wall and Sonia swung her fist into it, "Listen to me you pathetic creep!" The cracks spiraled outwards as Sonia's fist came down again and again on the wall, "Answer me damn it!" Her hand was bleeding and her arm aching even as the wall fell away from her and she staggered into the light beyond it.

Sonia crossed the space between her and her counterpart like a porcupine possessed, grabbing the other girl by the scruff of the neck and pulling her to her feet. "You worm!"

Sonia's breathing was ragged now, her arms were shaking even more as she glared at the other girl. It was only then she noticed how small the girl was, how young she looked and how small, how she shook like a leaf. The girl's eyes were screwed shut and what Sonia had thought was laughter had was actually the sobs that racked the smaller girl's frame.

Sonia frowned and by reflex dropped the girl, finally taking the time to look at the world around her. The ruined city was still visible through the hole in the wall of glass but infront of that soft grass covered the ground and lush trees spread out making a bright wood. Sonia smiled, she was home, for a second she was in a clearing in Happy Tree Forest, where death was an inconvenience and her parents were there to pick her up. She sighed wistfully and lay down in the grass to rest, closing her eyes.

When she felt ready Sonia got up and turned back to where the other girl lay. Her equivalent seemed to be in pain, the girl still cried, moving as little as possible occasionally spasming. Sonia was sure that the girl was in the same place she had been before, hiding in a pile of corpses. After a second of thought she bent down next to the girl, turning her onto her back and stroking her quills just like her mother used to.

"It's okay, you'll be okay." Her voice sounded hollow, even to her "I'm sorry for everything." She wrapped her arms around the girl, "You don't need to be strong any more okay, I'm here, I'm stronger than you and we'll survive okay, whatever it takes."

She left the girl and walked to the edge of the gap in the wall, looking out over her ruined city. She wondered just when it had happened, just when the dark monster in her head had become her and she had become the refuge for all her terror. She turned back to the girl and tried to think of something more to say, something that would make either of them confident in the end all she could think of was, "I can help you."

As Sonia stepped past the wall of glass the world shifted and she fell back into her hiding place, eyes watering as she tried to keep completely still.

Sonia wasn't a monster.

And she wasn't crying.

It all sounded so hollow in her head.


	27. Chapter 27

**AN: Only a chapter or two to go now, I've noticed that the closer I get to my planned sections the harder it gets to just write them.**

_Disclaimer: If I owned HTF things would be different, not better just different._

Chapter 27: The end of the World

Watch duty was a thankless task. Private Mullen had known that when he'd been given the task but with the other soldiers occupied there hadn't been much choice and- well one didn't say no to the Tiger General.

Even in the comfortable heat of the forest Private Mullen shivered as he lit his cigarette. He hadn't been able to get a good rest in weeks so it seemed only fair that he catch up now. Mullen smiled puffing a ring of smoke and watching it until disappeared into the tree canopy. He let his eyes droop for a second and took another puff. It wasn't even like there was anything out here that could properly stop the general, right now it was just waiting for that scum on the other side to die out. He laughed, they hadn't even really tried to stop the General yet, those idiot politicians must have still been under the illusion that the war was over.

"You just gonna lie there?" A slurring voice snapped Mullen out of his thoughts, his eyes snapped open for a second. His relief wasn't supposed to arrive for... Mullen's panic increased when he realised the man wasn't wearing a black uniform. Some sort of green army jacket was draped lazily over the new man's arm instead.

"Hey!" Mullen yelled as the man tried to duck passed him, "Where do you think your going?" It was the only thing he could think of to go with swinging his gun to point at a man.

The man just smiled, swinging a lethal looking crossbow up in response, "Did you see any... any..." The man paused smiling, "Hey," He laughed, surprising Mullen by pushing himself towards him and knocking his gun aside, "Candy really helps me think you know. Sorts my head right out, you got any?" The man grabbed the panicking Mullen by the back off the neck, "I need some."

Mullen staggered back and was pushed into a tree by the babbling squirrel, "Hey, what are you-? You can't seriously think I'm going to-?" He pushed back as hard as he could but the squirrel's shaking arms held on and the man's body took Mullen's blows as if his chest were made of sponge. "Listen the general's going to-"

"That's it!" The man's shout shook the trees as his grip tightened on Mullen, "That thing that marches- an army." The man was laughing now, hysterically, high pitched giggles forcing their way out of his mouth as the squirrel's entire body convulsed, "Did you see any armies around?" He laughed, "Any at all." The man stopped and glanced at Mullen, seeing him for the first time.

The squirrel twisted and, the second later, a fist connected with Private Mullen's head, rocking his brain like a pingpong ball. As he fell he worked out where he'd seen the green jacket before.

Mullen could barely stop his teeth from chattering as he raised his head and saw one of the elite WAR unit glaring down at him, the crossbow aimed right between his eyes.

"P-please..." He managed to gulp out before the squirrel pulled the trigger.

The squirrel finally got a hang of himself and swallowed his laughter, "That's a good one. Now," He gripped Mullen by the hair lifting him back to his feet, "Have you seen any armies about?"

Nutty waited for a second, frowned and threw the man aside, "Pathetic." He reloaded his crossbow, jumping back to his feet and looking down at the unfortunate Mullen. Syrup poured out between the man's eyes and he smiled dreamily, reaching out a hand for it.

Nutty's hand closed a few inches away from his prize.

No, it said to him, this is more important than candy. Nutty raised an eyebrow. More important than candy? Surely you lie, brain?

'No,' his brain responded.

'Besides,' his hand said, 'once you find Toffee you can have all the candy you want, he always carries candy, right?'

Nutty nodded rapidly, giggling and hurrying off into the forest, reloading his crossbow as he went.

He was going hunting.

* * *

Sander pushed herself back into an alcove and hid as best she could. Had she been seen?

"Hello?" Yes, definitely seen. The footsteps grew louder and louder and Sander held her breath. Or at least tried to, after a few seconds her chest began burning, and burning and burning and burning and...

Sander gave another huge gasping breath and it felt as if her ribs would snap. She gulped back a yelp and tried to push herself further back, out of sight.

"Hello?" The voice came again even as someone passed Sander's alcove. She held her crutch as close to her as she could without hurting her and prayed to everything she could think of that might hurt her. The seconds seemed to drag on forever, the figure just stood there, yelled out a few more times, at last they moved on and Sander could finally move again.

She pushed herself forwards, leaning heavily on her crutch. Sander had been getting tireder and tireder, and the tireder she got the harder it got to walk. Already it felt like Sander was trying to drag an elephant.

She was broken from her thoughts as she reached another door. She glanced in, before jumping back as quickly as she could.

The room was swarming with them! At least ten 'doctors' sat around the room talking. Sander gulped.

'Calm down,' the rational part of her brain said, 'if they'd seen you they'd have tried to stop you and-'

It was interrupted by another voice in her head. 'They just want you to think that. They're probably guarding the exits right now. Run, just get out and get as far away as you can. You can come back for Stanley. He'll be safe. He won't have told them anything.'

Before Sonia had even realised what was happening she was moving, stumbling forwards as quickly as she could, taking every turn she came to. Her strength had suddenly come surging back. She was tripping and staggering every step of the way. Her injured leg screamed at her, but she kept on going.

Even with her panic it took more than ten minutes before Sander found an exit. A light blue door marked as a fire escape loomed at the end of a short corridor and Sander made her way towards it. It took most of Sander's remaining strength to push the door open and stagger outside.

The sight that met her there was soul crushing. A tall fire escape led down to the ground from whatever floor (she guessed at least third) she was on. Sander looked down for a second, tears welling up in her eyes.

There was no way out, that was why they hadn't come after her! They knew there was no way she could escape!

No! Sander wouldn't accept that! She'd get out of their clutches. She'd find her parents. She'd find Stanley and then they'd both be safe.

She gritted her teeth and summoned up energy she hadn't known she'd had, taking the first step down. Pain shot through her injured leg, through her ribs and along her arm as she fell heavily onto the banister of the stairs.

She wasn't sure how much longer she could last the way she was, but she would get out, she'd get out and then she'd be safe. Her parents would find her and she'd be safe.

One step down, at least fifty to go, and then she'd be safe.

* * *

Professional soldiers and recruits alike scurried away from the Tiger General. It was generally agreed that other than delivering bad news the worst place to be was in front of the general when he went to check on a battle. And it definitely was a battle, although not on equal terms, the enemy had shot at one of the search parties as they patrolled the outskirts, the survivors had taken cover, but since then the attackers had been totally silent.

That didn't help the Tiger General's mood though. The timing was too perfect. 'The Enemy' had escaped and as soon as he sent out soldiers to search for him another force attacked from the shadows. The Tiger General couldn't accept that as coincidence. Still, an all out attack seemed unlikely. His troops hadn't seen a real battle for months, years even, but they were still well drilled and could crush any enemy. Well, except...

The General drove that thought from his head with the greatest possible prejudice and yelled a volley of orders at his bodyguard. The soldiers spread out rapidly, guns sweeping across the dense forest, searching for intruders. A few minutes passed and, even as the captain yelled back the all clear, the soldiers advanced into the forest. By this point the General's nerves, far from being calmed, were even further on edge. Either the attackers were gone or...

He swept that particular thought aside with ease.

But there were only a few groups that could hide so well.

Once again the General blasted the thought from his head.

And then a yell came back from his guard and it became impossible to deny the truth anymore.

* * *

Hiding curled up at the base of a tree, surrounded by leaves had been some of the most uncomfortable minutes in Flippy's life. It wasn't the surroundings, they were a soft bed in a five star hotel compared to some of the places he had slept in during the war. No it was the knowledge that his daughter was perhaps only meters away, somewhere in the camp that he knew was only just out of sight.

He'd waited until his view of the sky was cut out, until a man in a dark grey uniform. Flippy smiled knowing that the man would only just be able to see Flippy from directly above. Sure enough even as the man's eyes widened in shock Flippy kicked out his legs, twisting his arms beneath him and slamming his boots, followed by his full weight, into the man's stomach.

Even as the man doubled up Flippy was wrenching the gun from his hands, checking the safety even as he rose into a crouch and sent a bullet straight into the nearest soldier.

By the time he raised to standing Flippy could feel the familiar buzz of adrenalin surging through his body, he was running before he even had a chance to think where he was going, releasing the remaining bullets as quickly as possible and throwing the gun aside. He ducked under another soldier bringing his hand slamming up into the back of the man's neck and dropping him to the ground.

Within a matter of seconds the Tiger General had been reduced from amongst a crowd of bodyguards, to a lone soldier in the middle of a battle line.

And rather unnervingly he was still smiling.

* * *

In a way Nutty was very lucky, the Tiger General's troops were mainly men as mad as he was or failed soldiers desperate to drag the enemy down with them. Even if they hadn't been the war had been over for around fifteen years, that would be long enough to dull all but the most dedicated soldiers skills.

Then there was the uniform. Nutty loved the uniform, couldn't get enough, brilliant, awesome, almost as good as candy-

No where near as good as candy but still, people ran when they saw it, ducked and panicked and yelled. Nutty hummed to himself emptying a bolt into yet another head. He felt like he was finally being respected.

Him, the madman, the nutjob, skew-lose old-

His brain clicked over a few times, trying to drag up the fact it had lost, he slapped his temples a few times and forced himself to think harder. He only gave up when his brain threatened to drag to a halt. Slower and slower, the carousel that spun Nutty's world into a mass of colours and cotton- cotton- well whatever, was slowing down.

Nutty groaned, angrily bringing his hand down on the nearest person, knocking the air from there lungs. He hated crashing, it was like every brain cell he had was falling in on itself, spinning and colliding and giving him one killer headache. He gritted his teeth, desperately wishing for something, something to speed him up and-

Candy! That was it, cotton candy, it was all so simple now, so obvious, so easy.

He tilted his head back and swallowed another handful of candies, letting the sensation shake his entire body and dragging his mind out of its dive till he was practically floating on sunshine and sparkles.

Nutty gave a choking laugh, felt his conscious mind dissolve, totally lost himself in the pretty pattens that arch of syrup made as it flew from that man's head, following one of Nutty's bolts.

Nutty was king of the world, he was God among the insects, all thanks to candy. Candy was good. Candy gave Nutty strength, candy let him shoot down two more men and stride into the large tent with eyes ablaze. Candy help keep him numb.

Nope, forget about that, not important said Nutty's mind, Toffee's more important, Toffee's why your here.

'Yes' said Nutty, 'he has candy.'

Nutty's shaking fingers, hit down on the trigger again, oblivious to the shouts of terror from the tent, oblivious to the figure running up to him, tugging on his arm and calling to him. The bolt didn't fire, Nutty looked down and laughed, out of bolts, finally out of bolts. He threw the thing aside and forgot it instantly, pushed Toffee to one side and set his gaze on the gaunt skunk on the opposite side of the room, tearing a candy cane out of his fur, crossing the room in two bouncy steps.

Candy was life, and beauty and-

He brought the cane down into the skunk's throat, skunks were fast, Nutty was faster.

Candy was speed and strength.

He twisted away pirouetting clumsily, laughing out loud.

Candy was joy, pure joy.

The bang, shattered his world, shattered him. Suddenly Nutty's mouth was full, filling more every second. Rich gloopy syrup poured down from his mouth, matted into his fur. Nutty tried to spit it out, tried to swallow.

Nutty hated syrup, he like his uniform though, matched his fur, matched his...

Nutty's thoughts trailed away, the carousel was slowing down, he couldn't keep his mind in one place for much time-

Candy! Nutty raised candy to his lips, tipped it down his throat.

It bubbled back up in the foul syrup.

Again Nutty tried-

Candy was joy. Candy would save him, numb the world and make it all go away. Candy made everything go away. Candy made everything better. Candy made everything okay.

Why wasn't everything okay? Nutty cried and thrashed, again and again he tried to swallow, but the pain just kept creeping up, just kept bubbling up.

Nutty's eyes span widely- why wasn't candy helping him- searching for something, someone- candy made him immortal, he couldn't die, not now- finally they found them.

In a way Nutty was lucky, his mind slipped away before his nerves really regained their senses. Candy hadn't saved him, for once candy hadn't saved him. But at least he left the world with the only happy thought he could find.

Toffee was safe. Toffee would grow up and be safe.

Toffee was his strength, his joy.

Toffee was his life.

Before he'd gone Nutty had smiled. Blood bubbled up between his teeth, pooled from the wound in his neck, coated the floor in a sticky mass. But he laughed, gurgled and spat blood and laughed. Nutty's lips finally found the words.

"Better than candy."

He'd crossed the world for something and it hadn't been candy.


	28. Chapter 28

**AN: Suddenly I'm finding this story much easier to write, probably because I planned these parts a long time ago. They've changed quite a bit but it's been really fun. I still find it changing though, this chapter wasn't going to exist up until I was writing it, but I got so attached to some of the sections I had to give them more time.**

Chapter 28: Heroes

For Splendid the world seemed to jump into slow motion again, it often did at big climactic moments in his life. He could honestly say he was used to living life in slow motion.

What Splendid wasn't used to was failure. He wasn't used to watching as the bad guy triumphed and he stood by feeling useless.

He simply didn't know what to do. The bullets bouncing off him suddenly felt hard and heavy, like stinging bees.

He wasn't used to watching people die in front of him.

Splendid's body moved like a slug, it took an age to raise his hand. His brain screamed at him.

That mole had done it, that mole had killed Nutty.

And suddenly his world sped up, suddenly he was shooting through the tents, grabbing the mole by the scruff of his neck and lifting him into the air.

Shock spread across the mole's face, his medals clicked against Splendid's hand and bent out of shape.

Then the mole's expression calmed, he raised his gun and fired at point blank range.

Splendid just growled, feeling the bullet bounce straight off his fur.

He let his senses spread out, searching with everything he had for any sign of life in Nutty, anything that would save the mole.

Nothing. Splendid felt tears welling in his eyes, his voice came out as a harsh whisper.

"You- you-" He raised the mole higher and struggled to get the words out, "You killed my brother."

Splendid watched the mole's eyes widen, he gripped the mole's gun, forcing it from his hands. And Splendid threw the mole until not even his furthest reaching sense could see him.

For a second Splendid stood there, trying to let it all sink in, trying to understand what was going on. He wiped away the tears from his face and turned to face the two terrified children in the corner. Lucy was totally still, silent as always a look of horror on her face, it was Toffee he watched though, watched the look of confusion and absolute despair on the boy's face. Splendid turned, swallowed his tears and tried to stop his voice from shaking.

"You're safe children." His voice sounded smaller than usual- like the people around him-, quieter, "You'll be okay."

He didn't wait for a response, Splendid just threw himself into the air, climbing as high as he could and felt the world spin below him. He waited for a second before plummeting, it didn't matter that it had only been a few seconds, when he landed he would be miles away from where he had started.

Splendid's landing was marked by a huge cloud of smoke. Buildings shook and quaked as he ground beneath him fell into a crater.

Splendid took just enough time to check that the area around him was totally deserted. It was, in fact it looked like it had been a war zone long before he arrived.

Splendid let his senses close down, one by one he shut down everything and then he just let himself break.

* * *

Sander had been running on empty for what felt like hours. Just one more step she had told herself, and after that just one more. One step at a time, there had to be help out there somewhere. Once she found someone she'd find Stanley.

Still that didn't help, it took everything in her not to turn and run back the way she'd come, to drag herself back into _their _clutches and find Sander. She was sure they had him, she knew that. But going back would be to run right back into their plan. She knew that they'd only let her go because they thought she'd break, they thought she'd come running back and beg them to find her brother and then...

Sander shivered, pulling her mind away from the thoughts that kept crawling in. She focused on her feet, one step more, then another. Every step would be the last she told herself, one more step then she could stop, then she could collapse and be safe.

She wasn't even sure if she still had her pack, she wasn't even sure if she still had her crutch all she knew was she was still walking. Every step took her further away from them, further away from danger.

Then she heard the crash, the ear-splitting wrench of metal and stone snapping. The noise bludgeoned through her thoughts and she realised her mistake. They'd planned all this, they knew she wouldn't crack so they'd sent something to catch her. She yelled her feet to move but they were glued to the ground.

Just run, Sander could see the buildings infront of her tear, rip apart like paper.

Just take a step, the sky flashed and lit up like it was burning.

Just, please, please, please, turn away.

Sander couldn't though, she couldn't move. She was going to die alone, and terrified.

And she'd only managed to get further away from Stanley.

* * *

The sensation was incredible, the knowledge you were moving, the feeling of exhaustion, but nothing else, no pictures or sounds buzzing into your head, not even the feeling of touching the world around him.

Splendid waited, waited until he didn't ache anymore, waited until he'd stopped replaying the images in his head again and again, waited until he could bear to be a hero.

Then a slowly as he could Splendid let himself come back, let himself feel the world around him, the hard ground beneath his feet, the pain in his knuckles, even the air whipping around him. He let sound slowly fill his ears, the crackle of fires and the crunch of ash beneath him.

Splendid let the tastes and smells of the world fill up his head. He breathed in for what felt like the first time in hours and gagged.

It took less than a second for Splendid's vision to come back and jump into focus. It took another second to work out what he was seeing. Small and hidden by rubble that Splendid couldn't remember being there before lay a girl desperately trying to crawl away.

Splendid's was kneeling next to her before he'd even worked out what he was doing. Something in the back of his mind told him that this was important, that he needed to do something here.

"Don't worry," A voice said, Splendid thought it was his but he couldn't be sure, "You'll be okay, your safe." He reached his hand out to the girl but she shied away from him, Splendid frowned, backing off, "I'm here to help you." Splendid's mind was starting to get back into order. He moved his hand more slowly this time but the girl still cowered.

Splendid frowned, people weren't meant to react that way around him he was... For a second he had to think about that... A hero, yes that was it he was one of the good guys. He stopped for another moment and thought, what was a hero to do at a time like this.

Then slowly an idea crept into his head. Splendid gently, as gently as he possibly could, eased his other senses on. Splendid grimaced forcing himself to be calm, he closed his eyes.

It was difficult, like trying to catch a trickle sand this time. He was clutching at it though, gathering more and more of it in his arms and easing it towards himself. Suddenly the trickle became a torrent, it was flowing past him, over him and through him. The stream rose up and engulfed him faster than he could have imagined, the world forced itself into his mind in a random blur.

Half a mile ahead someone was growing tired, doing their round for the second time tonight. Around them hundreds of people whimpered in pain, or confusion. Two miles away a herd of still panicking deer ran from the sound of guns. Four miles away.

Splendid forced himself out of the stream, prepared himself as best he could and let himself calm down again. Then carefully, focusing carefully on the girl infront of him, the blue squirrel eased himself back into the stream.

Half a mile away someone had stopped, checked what they'd seen once again and panicked. A quarter of a mile away a flock of birds landed on a bloated corpse.

Half a meter away a girl was terrified, her mind yelling at her to get away. She was never going to find her brother, she was going to die. Every single part of her screamed at her to run.

Screamed at him to run. Splendid desperately tried to get away, but pain shot along his leg. He fell sideways, landing badly on his injured arm. He was crying. He just needed to find his brother, to wrap his arms around him and tell him everything would be okay, that they'd get home, they'd be safe. He just needed to find his little brother and...

And that snapped him out of it, Nutty was his older brother, he'd been two when Splendid had been taken in by his family. More than that Nutty was dead. Splendid gulped back a sob and let himself drift out of the stream. He spent a second getting used to his own head again then opened his eyes.

The girl was where he expected her to be, lying on her side sobbing uncontrollably. Splendid watched her for a moment, gulping back another sob, then gently he lifted her in his arms and leapt.

The world rushed passed Splendid, the girl sheltered from it by his gliding flaps. In a few seconds he had crossed half a mile and stood infront of the doors of a tall, bleak building. The sign above the door told him it was a hospital. 'Deadwood hospital' to be exact.

Splendid was just about to cross the threshold when a small rat in a white coat came barreling out into him. The rat fell backwards, Splendid didn't flinch. Splendid reached down and pulled the rat to their feet.

"Excuse me doctor." His voice slipped effortlessly into that heroic tone he'd spent so long perfecting, "I was wondering if you were missing a patient." He shifted his arms slightly so that the girl in his arms could be seen, "And also if you happened to have another young beaver, a boy with-" He closed his eyes and let himself slip into the stream and back out, "A head injury."

The rat looked confused and Splendid repeated himself. The rat nodded immediately, thought for a second then nodded once again. Splendid smiled, he may not be able to save everyone, but he would save as many as he could.

He was a hero after all.

* * *

Sander's eyes flickered open briefly and she snapped them shut again. She'd been right, she was back in those off-white corridors. They were dragging her back again. For a moment she was glad, she was alive, she was still alive, they hadn't killed her. Then it it her, They were dragging her back again. They'd lock her up again and she wouldn't see her brother again.

She inched her eyes open again, a man in a white coat was leading her down a corridor. Sander grimaced and tried to stop. Her legs stopped moving but she still kept moving forwards. She tried to find an explanation but the last hour or so were just disappeared into a mass of panic. Was she sure she wasn't dead?

Before she had time to decide the man stopped by a door, saying something quietly and pushing the door open. Sander closed her eyes as she got closer to the man. Maybe if she played dead for long enough They'd get bored and just give up on her, and she was so tired.

No, she jolted herself as awake as she could, digging her nails into her injured arm to keep herself conscious.

The man in the labcoat was speaking, "-We lost track of it though, there was a sudden rush of patients after a nearby attack."

Sander found herself moving forwards and despite everything inside her screaming at her not to Sander found herself slowly opening her eyes.

The room she was going into was stark, the same furniture that had been in hers, a bed, a chair, a desk and a nightstand with the addition of a small bookcase. Sander found herself moving- no carried, she realised someone must be carrying her- across the room and placed in the chair.

The man in the white close moved across to the bed, checked a chart and gently stirred the person lying in it. The man turned to someone behind Sander. "I'm afraid he might not be quite awake. He hasn't said a word to any one since we got here. He had a head injury and we can't be sure how badly it affected him."

A voice came from behind Sander, making her jump, "It's probably best if we leave them then," It must have been the person who had been carrying her Sander realised, "This girl looks like she'll collapse if she has to deal with us much longer."

The doctor smiled, checked the charts on the bed one last time, gently nudged the person in the bed and left.

As soon as Sander was left alone her mind leapt into action (she was actually rather surprised at how awake she felt now). They'd left her in here for some reason and they hadn't bothered to lock the door, it was obvious that they'd be waiting outside in case she got out.

So she needed someway out that wasn't the door. It was safe to assume that the things that wouldn't have worked in her old room wouldn't work in this one. So she'd need a new way out.

Sander had just started to think of a new way to get out when she was interrupted.

"Sander?" Sander recognised the voice, her leapt when she looked up and saw the child in the bed.

"Stanley!" Her voice wavered with joyful surprise, "But They-" She trailed off and began again, "Look we need to get out of here." She tried to stand but her foot protested and she sat down wincing, "We're going to go home Stanley." She saw the look of complete confusion cross Stanley's face, "You're not safe here Stanley." She could see he couldn't understand her, he looked scared even. She realised she was crying, tears streaking down her face and matting her fur. Sander was scared, They'd got to Stanley, brain-washed him or something. She was babbling now, trying to tell Stanley everything, trying to get him to understand.

Sander tried to stand again, her leg screaming at her, she barely managed a step before she fell on her face. Then she just lay there, sobbing.

Sander heard rustling from the other end of the room, then slow, quiet, hesitant footsteps. The next thing she knew Stanley was trying to pull her up by her injured arm. Sander yelped in pain as her still recovering arm sent a shot of pain along her shoulder and Stanley dropped her, leaping back as if he'd been electrocuted. He tried again, more gently this time and this time he managed to pull her up to sitting. Sander gulped back tears and wiped her eyes.

"Stanley," She managed after a few moments, "I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry. I promised Mum and Dad I'd look after you and-"

Stanley smiled, he wrapped his arms gently around her and hugged her, resting his head on her shoulder. "Thanks. You saved me Sander, you've always been there when I needed you. Dad would be proud."

Sander felt herself welling up again. She sniffed and bit back the tears. Stanley gave a wet eyed smile. Then suddenly he leapt to his feet and hurried over to the nightstand, pulling open one of its drawers and rooting around inside it, "That reminds me, the doctors found this with me." He babbled excitedly, "They said I wouldn't let go of it." He pulled a yellow hardhat out of the drawer and rushed over to Sander putting it gently on the floor infront of her, "Thought you might want it back."

Sander smiled, turning the hat over and over with her good hand she picked it up and placed it on her head, her bandaged skull protested a bit but she ignored it. Then it struck her, "That's the most I've heard you say in weeks," She laughed, "When did you get so talkative."

Stanley blushed and pointed over to a small box on the bookcase, "They let me have some cleaning products."

Sander laughed again, it seemed like a ridiculous explanation, still looking around the room it was perfect, she couldn't see a speck of dirt at all. She'd missed her brother's obsessions so much.

They spent the next half an hour just talking, every so often Stanley would leap up and go and fiddle with a book, or the chair until everything was perfect. Sander stayed off the subject of Them, she could see Stanley was too happy to be convinced. But They had underestimated her if they thought that would keep her spirits down, just knowing her brother was safe was good enough for her, just being sure he'd survived.

Eventually the door opened and a blue squirrel came in, Sander immediately stopped talking, her words dying in her throat. She did her best to back away. Stanley on the other hand smiled, he dashed over to the squirrel. Sander would have yelled out a warning to him anything, but before she could the squirrel had stepped forwards and with impossible speed and care swept both her and her brother into his arms, lifting them easily and carrying them out the room.

Sander would have buried her head in her hands and given up, she would have despaired. But Stanley was next to her, a worried smile on his face despite the dust and grime around him and...

And with him there she knew she was safe.

* * *

Flaky made her way through the camp with a type of purpose she didn't think she'd had for years. Her fears barked in her head, she could see every danger around her- how even the grass could cut her and blood would trickle out so slowly and she would slowly go numb and die- but for once Flaky didn't care. For once Flaky didn't cower when a man appeared infront of her with a gun, she just kept running, the man could of killed her, she knew he could, but instead when he caught sight of her uniform the man simply dropped his gun and surrendered. She didn't give him so much as a passing glance, he didn't matter because now she knew where she was going.

Nutty's son had told her, he'd practically been crying but he'd managed to tell her where her daughter was and since then Flaky hadn't stopped running except to check she was going the right way.

The only metal building in the area, an ugly square building with peeling paint, was right infront of Flaky now and she practically fell over her own feet to get to it.

Pulling the door open clumsily Flaky was hit with the foul smell of decay which poured over her like a wave. She choked and for a second she panicked, imagining just what it would feel like to die suffocated by stinking corpses. Then she pushed that down, using that very thought to push herself forwards she dashed into the building.

Corpses surrounded her, men, women and children alike, all dead and piled up on each other. All around her, she could just see them tipping, falling over on her, covering her completely, their withered limbs reaching up and-

And through it all one fear finally managed to weave through.

"_You're a failure, you've failed as a parent," _The voice in her head mocked, _"You always fail at everything. You're worthless." _Flaky froze, the voice wormed it's way passed everything and washed her thoughts away, "_You're father didn't stay around for you did he? Your couldn't save your mother and you married a monster. And now your daughter's going to die." _Flaky tried to gulp down the fear, to stop it before it finished, _"And it'll all be your thought, because you didn't care enough."_

That was what did it. Flaky all but dove into the pile of corpses pushing them aside, climbing up over them, searching desperately for any signs of her daughter. Yes she might of failed, she might be too tied up in her terror to help her daughter, she might die over and over again, but she would never let her daughter go. There was one thing in Flaky's life which she knew for sure and that was that her family meant everything to her. Yes she might be terrified of them, but she was never going to let Flippy or Sonia down when she could still help them.

There! Flaky pushed more bodies out of the way and found the familiar green quills she'd known for nine years. Her daughter was curled tightly in a ball and for a second Flaky's terror overwhelmed her, then she saw the way the green ball shivered and she sighed with relief.

Gathering her daughter in her arms sent quills digging into Flaky's chest, her arms and face but she did it anyway. Flaky lifted her daughter and hugged her close, she walked out of the building in such a haze that she barely noticed her surrounds.

Then she collapsed, Flaky held her daughter in her arms and let all her fear go, she just begged her to react, the whole world could collapse, Flaky could die in agony and never come back. Just as long as Sonia was okay.

And eventually Sonia's eyes opened, she uncurled slightly and reached out, a look of joy on her face. She looked into her eyes and knew that her daughter wouldn't be okay. But again that didn't matter because Sonia reached out and said just one word.

"Mummy."


	29. Chapter 29

**AN: And so we come to this. The end. The finale. The bit where the story stops. I just want to say thank you to everyone who's kept reading through all of this, and of course everyone who's reviewed. Special mention to ****BULLETHLE for their quite long review which I couldn't reply to because they don't have an account. First off I made the Mole evil because I saw the Ka-pow episode in which he was a spy (which I assumed took place at around the same time as the Flippy one) and wondered why Flippy didn't immediately recognise someone that obviously skilled, given his army position being in special operations. The answer, he was on the other side.**

**And no need to thank me, I really, really hate Lumpy too.**

Chapter 29: And so war is over

Flippy dodged back from another attack, panting. The tiger general didn't waste time, darting forwards and trapping Flippy's now empty gun in his metal claw. Flippy just let go of it before its barrel was crushed and it was reduced to scrap. He twisted another small knife out of his pocket and swung his bowie knife right at the tigers head. The large knife nicked the general's flesh but he just smiled. Dodging back he brought his own knife swinging in. Then the two were apart, breathing heavily and feeling the adrenalin shooting through their systems.

Flippy was snapped out of reverie by the general's harsh laugh, "You are shaking sergeant. Are you sure you are not scared?"

Flippy returned the smile grimly, "Just getting into my stride General."

The Tiger General laughed, "You still call me 'General', I thought that it was important in combat for you to know the name of the one who was about to kill you. That is chivalry is it not?"

Flippy laughed, "Something like that." He was leaping forwards before he'd finished speaking, knocking the grenade the general had been drawing from his hand, "It's Flippy by the way."

The general laughed, bending backwards to dodge the attack and retaliating with his own blade, "Very good soldier, very good indeed." He swung his blade, which Flippy caught with his own twisting it out of his hand and grabbing it with his free hand. The General simply reached out and crushed the blade with his claw, before moving his hand to crush Flippy's wrist.

And that was when Flippy took his chance, as the claw closed he drew his hand back, bringing both the ruined blade and his bowie knife down into the metal claw, jamming the gears with his blade.

Which left him with one hand occupied jamming the claw and the Tiger General with only one claw free to move.

It came down to which could draw another knife quickest.

And there wasn't any one on either side who was faster with a knife than the great mad Tiger General...

Unfortunately for him Flippy had already slipped his into his hand while they were talking.

* * *

Handy watched the enemy run, he watched from the sidelines as police and soldiers hurried into the camp from one side. At the start of the battle his wife had had the presence of mind to send a flare up from the camp and fairly soon the cavalry had arrived. The police had apparently already been on edge due to an alarming amount of terrorism recently, apparently the nearby Deadwood Village had nearly been destroyed. To be honest Handy couldn't say he cared, he was tired, about to drop. He just wanted to see his children safe again. He stepped to the side when he was told to and let a policeman check him for injures. By this point he was barely paying attention to the world around him, he glanced at his wife to check that she was okay. Petunia seemed even more out of it than Handy was, just staring out at the people searching through collapsed tents, gasping frantically for breath and desperately scrubbing the back of her arm until the skin went red.

Handy grimaced, turning away from the man who was asking questions he wasn't listening to anymore.

If Handy had still had hands they probably would have been balled into fists now. He felt so useless, all that and his children were still out there somewhere. The whole universe had just decided to start screwing with him.

He'd only just noticed the blue line on the horizon when it was a blue blur over the trees, only worked out what it was when it was a cloud of dust infront of him. Before the smoke had even cleared he was moving. Part of him cursed himself for getting his hope up. But still-

Sure enough the cloud parted to reveal two small skunks held gently by a tall blue squirrel, who looked exhausted but every bit the solemn super hero.

The dust stung his eyes, clogged his throat and made him cough but Handy didn't care in the slightest. His children were back, his family was back.

Handy was welling up, he could feel the tears streaming down his face and (in lieu of arms) licked them away absentmindedly. Then he was crouching down, wrapping his stumps around his children as best he could. He saw tears in Sander's eyes and for a second he panicked- if she'd been hurt he'd- then he felt a pair of small arms wrapped around his neck. He blinked back tears again but they just kept on falling, soaking his fur. He felt someone wipe his eyes and another pair of tiny arms wrap around him. The next thing he knew both his children were pressed as close to him as possible burying their faces in his fur. His wife was crouched down next to him brushing Stanley's hair back and quietly telling him how messy he looked. Handy smiled, even now Petunia couldn't let go of that. It didn't matter. Handy had his family.

Nothing else mattered in the world.

* * *

Flippy rested heavily on a tree branch and offered a halfhearted salute to the pile of offal that had been the Tiger General, this time he was sure the man wouldn't be coming back. The smell of blood clung to his fur like it had since the war, making it hard to focus. Still he forced himself on, leaping to the next tree and pulling himself up into its branches. Flippy pulled himself higher up and looked around forcing himself to get his bearings as opposed to just collapsing. He was surprised to see people (soldiers by the look of the uniform) flooding the enemy camp. Good, he could have done with support earlier but still that was one less thing he had to deal with.

He changed tree a few more times, every jump got harder but it needed to be done, he needed to find Sonia if it was the last thing he did. For about the seventieth time he leapt onto a lower branch and clambered gracelessly up the trunk of yet another tree. About half way up he stopped and rested on a branch, struggling to regain his breath. Flippy winced and shifted his weight, using the time to check for injuries, the fight must have taken more out of him than he thought. He checked one leg over for damage, then the other. Followed by his ribs- he didn't finish his check, something caught his eye. A small dash of red on a green and brown background.

Flippy was moving, faster than he thought he could like this and still he wanted to move faster. He was leaping from tree to tree with no stealth, no grace, no care, just the sheer need to get to Flaky as quickly as possible. His hands scrabbled in his pack for a medical kit even while he was still going. Sonia needed him, Flaky needed him.

He stopped. He was so close that he could make out the individual quills on Flaky's back and she still hadn't noticed him. They didn't need him, he realised, not really, not now. He could protect them, but so could his other self. He would cross earth for them, but so would the other Flippy. He- They didn't need him.

The world blurred for a second, becoming the ruins of some city he might of visited in the war or that he might just have imaged up out of all the places he'd been. Flippy let his mind wander, let it slip through all the times he'd had with his family. It was amazing how many of them he'd watched from here, through the eyes of his other self. He sighed and finally opened his eyes, gazing out at the wall of glass infront of him.

"Well are you going to go over there or not?" He yelled at the other Flippy behind the wall, "Go ahead they're your family."

"_They're yours as well." _Came the response from behind the mirror.

Flippy grimaced slightly, "They don't need me anymore do they? They never have really."

The man behind the wall laughed, _"Of course they don't need you, you're a madman. They need us though, both of us."_

Flippy's laugh rebounded harshly off the walls of his city, "You maybe, I'm just the mental baggage Flaky got stuck with when she married you."

"_Sonia loves you though, who else would have saved her that time she fell into one of the enclosures at the zoo? Who else would go to absurd lengths to protect Flaky and Sonia from every thing that could possibly hurt them?"_

"Aside from myself you mean?"

"_Of course."_

Flippy found himself laughing again, _"_You would_."_

The voice behind the mirror was silent for a second, "_And where would I have ended up without you?" _Flippy didn't respond, "_I'd have died in the war years ago and then Sonia never would have existed." _Once again Flippy didn't have an answer, "_They need you as much as they need me soldier. So get over there and make sure our family is okay, that's an order."_

Flippy smiled, "You know we have a lot more in common than I thought."

"_Really?"_

"Yeah, you're nuts too." And Flippy opened his eyes.

* * *

Flaky had barely moved from where she was for five minutes, she just kept her arms wrapped around her daughter and let go of every nightmare she'd had over the last weeks. She stroked her daughter's quills and just let her cry softly.

Flaky was just trying to find something to say when someone cleared their throat behind her. She didn't need to turn to know it was Flippy, nor to know that his eyes would be green, that much was obvious from the fact he'd got so near without her noticing. She shifted slightly and let him crouch down next to her.

Flippy looked terrible, it wasn't just the blood that coated his face and coat, or the cuts that covered his uniform and his body, it was the sheer look of exhaustion and terror in his eyes. For a second Flaky worried that that terror would melt into rage like it normally did, this time though Flippy just looked at Sonia and relief flooded his face. If there was anything wrong with her he couldn't see it with basic training and, Flaky knew, to the soldier in her husband's head if there was no obvious danger then Sonia was safe. Flippy got to his feet and Flaky wrapped her arms back around Sonia. Behind her she could hear Flippy doing whatever checks he thought was necessary to make sure that Sonia was safe.

Then Flippy was dropping down to sit heavily opposite her. "You found her." His voice was as gruff as normal but she was surprised by how quiet he was. He's lulling you into a false sense of security, part of her mind told her, any second now he'll reach out and snap your neck just like he always does, look at the blood on him already, that might as well be yours... Flaky shook herself out of those thoughts, there would be time to be scared later, Flippy was talking to her.

"The general's dead. He won't come after Sonia." Flippy reached out his hand and placed it gently on Flaky's, for a second she wanted to pull away, to pull Sonia away from him and run. Instead she just let Flippy embrace her awkwardly and smile down at Sonia.

"Thank you Flaky," Flippy's voice was rough and cracked, "Thank you for everything."

* * *

Sonia watched the small girl try to pretend she was asleep, she watched the girl toss and turn and try to get comfortable in a bed that was far softer and larger than anything she'd slept in for the last few weeks. She'd watched the girl's nightmares as well, they'd been confused but they'd terrified both Sonia and the girl.

The girl was shifting restlessly again, fidgeting and trying to actually get back to sleep.

"_Are you going to lie there all day or get up." _Sonia spoke into the back of the girl's head. The girl merely shivered clamped her hands over her ears and ducked under the covers. Sonia sighed, _"You do know that won't help at all."_

Sonia watched the girl for the few more seconds before sighing again and opening her eyes. She extracted herself from underneath the covers of the bed and once again noted how strange it felt to have such soft mattress to sleep on. She brushed the thought away and clambered out of bed, looking in the mirror she saw the little girl was still curled up in her bed shaking and shivering.

Sonia frowned at the girl in the mirror and got herself ready, the girl in the mirror just kept lying there shaking. She waited at the door for the girl when she was ready to go, the small girl didn't move.

"Suit yourself then."

Sonia saw the girl next when she was eating breakfast, caught a glimpse of her sitting at the table in one of the light fittings picking at her food. She chose to ignore her, it wasn't like she'd do anything while she was eating.

Her parents didn't eat with her today. Her father apparently had to go and see someone about what had happened on the day the Tiger General's camp had been raided. Her mother said she'd already eaten and just sat there watching Sonia occasionally asking if she was absolutely sure she was okay.

After assuring her mother for about the fiftieth time that she was fine (she didn't mention the girl in the mirror), that nothing all that bad had happened to her (she didn't mention the voices in her head) and that nothing bad was going to happen to her, she finally managed to get her mother to agree to let her go outside.

It had taken a few days longer than she would have liked and she wasn't allowed any further away than the garden but it was at least better than being holed up all day inside with only books. To get as far away from the house as she could Sonia leant on the tall chain fence around her house and looked out at the world beyond. She didn't know how long she stayed there, time just sort of seemed to slip away from her and before she knew it someone was talking to her.

"Are you okay Sonia?" Sonia glanced up and was only slightly surprised to see Giggles, the chipmunk was her parents friend and had visited no less than three times in the last week to check she was okay (and probably a few more times when she was asleep).

Sonia nodded and went back to staring out at the world. Giggles didn't seem particularly surprised. "That's what most of your friends said." That part surprised Sonia, she hadn't seen anyone else from the recruits since they'd got home, their families probably hadn't got around to letting them outside either yet.

"Are they-um" Sonia struggled for words, "How are they?"

Giggles smiled, sitting down on a folding chair that had been put out in case Sonia needed it, "All 'okay'," She waited for Sonia to turn and look at her before she went on, "Lucy seems to be fairing pretty well, the doctors reckon there's some nerve damage around her shoulder and a major risk of infection but she honestly seems okay. Sander's having a hard time adjusting, keeps jumping at shadows, I haven't seen her much, most of the time she just locks herself in her room." Giggles looked down, closing her eyes, "I just feel so useless now, I went out looking for you guys because you mattered to me and I thought I could help and now..." She trailed off lost in her own thoughts.

Sonia waited for her to go on for a bit then prompted her, "What about Stanley and um-" _What was his name?_

"Toffee?"

"Yeah..."

Giggles looked up at her again, "Stanley's doing okay, his parents haven't noticed anything out of the normal yet. They just keep everything around him clean and hope that he just didn't register most of what happened. And Toffee, he- well it's really hard to tell with him. He's been hanging around the hospital for the last few days just sort of blending into the background. Since no one really knew him before no one really knows what's out of the ordinary for him. It's just... I mean I just hope he's okay, it can't be easy to lose a father like that."

Sonia was about to say something when Giggles stood up to leave, "I need to go now Sonia, my hospital shift starts in ten minutes, I'd ask you to come along but I don't think your parents would like it. I just need you to remember okay if you need to talk about anything or need any help or- or anything really. Just come and talk to me okay, I want to know you're safe."

Sonia thought for a second, "I'm fine honestly. It's my dad I'm worried about."

Giggles looked rather surprised at that, "Is your dad okay then?"

Another silence followed, for a moment Sonia was worried that Giggles would need to leave, she waited though until Sonia had found the words, "Half the time he's fine, he's wonderful and he loves me. The other half though, he really scares me."

Giggles nodded, "His green eyed side right?" Sonia nodded, "Sonia he scares everyone, he still thinks the war's on after God knows how long. But he trekked across half the forest to find you and risked I don't know how much to keep you safe, so I'd say you don't have to worry about him. He loves you."

Sonia nodded and turned back to the fence staring out at the world beyond while Giggles left. She watched for a while, thought things over and let time slip by until she was called in. On the way back she caught sight of the small girl in the mirror again, just staring at the ground shaking. This time she walked up to her, wrapping her knuckles on the mirror and startling the girl.

"What's wrong Sonia," She said to the girl, "You're surrounded by friends here. You'll be fine." She realised it was true as she said it, she may have problems but she'd survived and she had friends and two parents who loved her more than the whole world who'd help her through it. "And besides," She told her reflection, "If you need help you can always talk to me." She smiled at the little girl in the mirror "I'll make sure your safe."

And the girl in the mirror smiled back.


End file.
